Never Leave You
by not-you-15
Summary: Kaoru is kidnapped and locked in a room by a man studying twin bonds. He isn't allowed to leave, except when being experimented on. He and his roomate plan escape, but will a secret from her past tear it all apart? T for now, maybe M later due to torture
1. Chapter 1

**Hello, all! Just so you know, I've never written an Ouran story before, so sorry if anyone is OOC...**

**Secondly, the main OC in this story is technically me. See, I dreamt this story about a month ago... And I tried to make her into a character instead of myself, but that wasn't working, so me she stayed. Just so you know. Bits have been changed, but the core of her is still derived from myself. That being said, I don't think she's a Mary-Sue, but if you think she is, feel free to tell me.**

**Lastly, THIS IS NOT A TWINCEST STORY! I love it and all, but I'm unfortunatly uncapable of writing it. It may turn into a Kaoru/OC, or it may have no pairings, depending on the response it gets.**

**That being said, I hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ouran High School Host Club.**

**Chapter One**

Kaoru woke up with a splitting headache and an unusual heaviness about his limbs. 'Where am I?' he wondered, blearily looking around the unfamiliar surroundings.

"Oh good, you're awake. How are you feeling?" a voice said in English. Kaoru looked around, trying to find the source of the words. He located it in a young girl, about his age, sitting in the corner of the room- on the floor, no less!

"Well? Are you gonna answer me?" she asked getting up and walking towards him. Kaoru blinked up at her stupidly, his brain still foggy from his little nap. She sighed, sounding exasperated.

"Do you speak English?" she queried. He continued to look at her. She settled down on the edge of the bed, alternating between rubbing her temples and pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Parlez-vous Français?" she tried. Kaoru continued to stare.

"Te hablas Español?" He remained blank.

She trried language after language. Kaoru managed to identify German, Russian, Dutch, Chinese **(A.N: Mandarin?) **and Swahili. He thought he might have heard some Arabic and Latin as well, but his brain was still to foggy to be sure.

With each language he failed to respond to, the girl seemed to grow more irritated. After about five minutes, she managed to spit out "Do you speak Japanese?" Kaoru had enough sense to nod his head at that. She looked slightly relieved at that.

"Thank goodness," she said, "I had nearly run out of languages. The girl grinned, and Kaorus' eyes widened in surprise. With that smile on her face, she looked like a completely different person.

She snapped him out of his thoughts by asking him a question. "What's your name?"

"Kaoru." His voice sounded croaky.

"Kaoru. Do you have a last name to go with that?"

"Hitachiin," he replied, looking and feeling rather sheepish.

"I'm Julie. Julie Rutherford-Hopkins. Nice to meet you."

She stuck out a hand and he, with a large amount of effort to lift his arm, took it, albeit hesitantly.

At that moment, something major registered in his still-hazy mind, and Kaoru immediately sat bolt upright in bed.

"Where's Hikaru?" he demanded. Julie looked at him, shock and confusion written across her features.

"Who's Hikaru?" she asked.

"My brother," Kaoru replied.

Something seemed to click in her head when he said it. "Ah, of course. Twin brother, I'm assuming?" Kaoru nodded to her slowly, wondering how she had known that. The girl jerked her head sharply, once.

"Identical or fraternal?" she inquired.

"Identical… but… how did you-"

"How did I know you were twins?"

"Yeah…"

"It really wasn't all that hard. Everyone here is, to my knowledge, anyways."

"What? You're a twin? There are other people here?"

"Yep and yep. I'm fraternal, though; my brothers' name is Joshua."

Kaoru blinked, processing this information in his gradually clearing mind.

"So… Why are we here?" he asked slowly. She gave a bitter laugh.

"The man in charge of this operation has a fascination with twins. Seems to think they're the most interesting thing in the world. He's experiment on the bond identical and fraternal twins share, and the differences between them."

"And… This is all legal?"

She gave him a funny look and replied, "I'll cut you some slack since you just woke up, but I'm not going to tolerate such idiocy in the future, understand?"

"So… It's not legal then?"

Julie gave an exasperated sigh. "No, it's not legal. Why else would they have knocked you out to bring you here?"

Kaoru decided a subject change was in order. "Where is here, anyways?" he wondered aloud, hoping that Julie would have an answer for him.

She did. "Somewhere in South America, as best I can tell."

"South America? How can they make observations on twins' relationships if Hikaru is still in Japan?"

"They have him under surveillance would be my best guess. Or maybe they're keeping him in another part of the facility. Idon't really know for certain."

Kaoru blinked. This was a lot to process at one time. He had been kidnapped to be used as part of illegal research on twin bonds I South America? And, Hikaru could be somewhere else in the facility, or still safe at home in Japan? Kaorus' head was swimming slightly from the information overload.

Julie seemed to sense his confusion.

"it's a lot to take in at once, isn't it?" she said sympathetically. "You'll get used to the idea after a while though." Her expression turned sad and bitter for the briefest of seconds when she said that. It was so quick thee Kaoru wasn't sure that it had even really been there.

Suddenly, her mouth formed a little "oh!" as if the had just remembered something important, and then she was crawling across the bed towards him.

Kaoru swallowed nervously. She was now sitting on his chest, leaning over towards his neck. "Wha-what are you do-doing?" he managed to choke out.

"Checking for patterned bruising on your neck." she replied, as if this were the most obvious thing in the world.

"W-why?" he stuttered.

"To see if you were rendered unconscious by a hit from a tranquilizer dart gun, or blunt force trauma to the skull."

"Ah. I… see."

She continued her search for a couple of moments longer. Finally, she seemed satisfied and sat up, though still seated on his chest.

"It seems that you were subdued by a hit from a tranquilizer dart gun. The only thing to do is wait until the effects wear off."

Kaoru yawned. He couldn't help it, really- he was so exhausted, and he hadn't even done anything! Julie nodded sagely. "It's a side effect of the tranquilizer- you'll be completely exhausted for at least the nest four hours. Sleep if you want to; it does help it to waer off a bit faster." And with that, she rolled off of his chest, and onto the floor, landing on her feet.

"Sleep well," she said.

Those words were the last thing that Kaoru heard before his eyes drifted closed and the sweet black waves of sleep engulfed him.

**Worth continuing? Review if you think so, or think not, or whatever. Just, please, do! JM**


	2. Chapter 2

**So, I wasn't gonna post this until Thursday, but then I remembered I'm going on a trip with no internet in like five minutes, so you all get it early. The end of this is slightly depressing, but I just reread Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, so can you really blame me? Poor George...**

**Anyways, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ouran High School Host Club, or the songs Memory or Brigit O'Malley**

**Chapter Two**

The next few hours were a blur of disjointed images as Kaoru hovered somewhere between sleep and wakefulness.

o0O0o

He dreamed of the last thing he remembered before waking up in that room with Julie.

He and Hikaru, along with the rest of the Host Club were at a premiere fashion show. You could walk around and look at all of the different pieces, before seeing them modelled in a show.

They had looked at (read: critiqued) most of the pieces already, laughing and having an all around good time. The show was starting soon, and they were headed towards the entrance of the runway to get good seats.

Hikaru announced that he had to go to the bathroom, so the two of them headed off to the nearest ones. They were really crowded, so Kaoru told Hikaru that he would wait for him just outside the door. He hadn't been standing there for long when he felt a pain in his neck and the world started to spin.

Kaoru stumbled forward a couple of steps before his knees gave out and he collapsed. But, instead of hitting the floor, he felt a pair of arms close around him. "Hikaru?" he muttered groggily , but there was no answer.

He felt himself being dragged down a side corridor as his eyes closed. In his last moment of consciousness, he heard an anguished yell of "Kaoru!" before his world turned black

o0O0o

He was warm and comfortable, and there was a soft, soothing, beautiful voice weaving around him, cascading in gentle waves of sound.

"Sunlight through the trees in summer

Endless masquerading…

A street lamp dies

Another night is over

Another day is dawning!"

He must have made some sort of sound because the singing abruptly stopped.

"I'm sorry, did I wake you?" the voice said, "I'll stop."

He found his voice and managed to string together a couple of words to form a half coherent sentence.

"Pretty voice. Sing," he muttered.

The voice laughed. Kaoru decided that the voice was distinctly feminine. She also had a very nice laugh. He was slightly disappointed when the laughing stopped, and he felt his face form a pout. But then, she started to sing again, a different song this time.

"Brigit O'Malley,

You've left my heart shaken

With a hopeless desolation

I'll have you to know"

Kaoru sighed happily and relaxed into the pillow.

"It's the wonders of admiration

Your quiet face has taken

And your beauty will haunt me

Wherever I go…"

As he began to drift off, the voice continued to sing lulling him into a sense of security, the first he had felt truly safe and at ease since he had realised his brother was gone.

o0O0o

"Wake up, Kaoru!"

He jolted up suddenly. He was in the Club room, next to Hikaru, where he belonged.

"You fell asleep again, Kaoru. Are you sure you're alright?"

Kaoru blinked. So it had all been a… dream?

His brothers voice jolted him back to reality. "Hey! Kaoru, are you sure you're okay? You've been ignoring me for the past five minutes…"

Kaoru finally managed to find his voice, the shock of the situation beginning to wear off.

"Oh! I'm sorry, Hikaru… a lot on my mind, I guess."

"You wanna talk about it?"

Kaoru wasn't sure what to say, where to begin, because really, how do you describe the ache, the gaping hole of hurt inside of him that he had felt when he thought that Hikaru was gone? Kaoru didn't think it was possible.

Hikaru must have sensed his hesitation, or maybe he could just see it on his face, because he said, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I'll be here if you do though, whenever it might be. I'll always be here for you."

Kaoru felt a sudden surge of love and gratefulness towards his twin. He threw himself into Hikarus' arms and sobbed, in both relief and sadness at the memory of the pain of Hikarus' absence in his dream.

His brother didn't try and make him explain. He just held him, murmuring soft words of comfort into his ear, until he was calmed down enough to explain.

"Oh, Hikaru, it was just awful! I was in a room with a girl called Julie, and they were going to experiment on me, and it was in South America, and-and I was alone, 'cause you weren't there, and it hurt, oh, it hurt so much to be without you, and it was just horrible!" Kaoru burst out, all in one breath.

Hikaru looked at him in shock for a moment before almost brutally crushing Kaoru to his chest again, whispering to his startled brother, "I think I would die if you were kidnapped, Kaoru. I wouldn't rest until I found you, because you mean more to me than anything. I'll never abandon you, I'll never leave you. Never."

Kaoru gave a desperate whimper and clutched the front of Hikarus' shirt even more tightly. He was in his brothers' arms; he was home.

o0O0o

And then the warmth of Hikarus' body was gone, and he was opening his eyes to the drab room and Julies' concerned eyes.

"I'm sorry to have woken you, but you were whimpering and I was worried. Are you sure you're alright?"

But her words were lost on Kaoru, because the gaping hole in his chest had come back, more painful than before in the aftermath of his dream, and tears started to form unwillingly in his eyes. He tried to push them back, because he refused to cry in front of Julie, because crying was showing weakness, and that was something that Kaoru refused to do, not in front a virtual stranger, and a girl no less. No, he had to stay strong, he had to!

Julies' voice was very soft, soothing almost, and filled with sadness so deep and intense, that nobody could fathom it unless they had been in her situation and maybe not even then, when nest she spoke.

"It's okay to cry, you know. I won't think anything less of you if you do. You've just suffered what's probably the most painful loss of your life, and I get that. I was torn away from my twin too, remember. I understand, at least somewhat, what you're going through." She took a shuddering breath, and Kaoru thought that she may have been on the verge of tears as well.

"Let go, Kaoru. Let go of your emotions. You'll only hurt yourself more in the future if you don't."

And the first crystalline tear fell from his eye, rolled down his cheek and hit the blankets below his head.

Kaoru sobbed. He sobbed for his brother and his friends, for Julie and Joshua, for himself and everyone else in this wretched facility. As his anguished cries echoed throughout the small room, he felt a pair of slender arms close around him, and a face pressed against his steadily dampening shirt.

The two of them, Julie and Kaoru, sobbed until there were no more tears then lay there, still intertwined until they fell into a fitful sleep, each wishing that it was another who lay in their arms.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello again everyone! I just want to let you all know that I go back to school on Monday, and it's nearly exams, and I'm almost failing chemistry, so updates will be a bit sporadic for a while, until the start of the new semester.**

**Also, I am in desperate need of a beta reader... Anyone know one/ want to be mine? I will be eternally grateful...**

**I'm not really liking this chapter... But it introduces a couple of major elements to Julie and her secret. So, I hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ouran High School Host Club, or any other things mentionned in this chapter, to be honest...**

**Chapter Three**

When Kaoru next awoke, he felt emotionally drained, yet somehow lighter, as if a great burden had been lifted from his soul. The ache, the hole in his chest which his brother usually filled was still there, and still as intense as before, but somehow it seemed… Bearable now.

The shifting of another body in his arms brought him back to the situation at hand. Julie was asleep, a small smile on her face, looking completely relaxed. Kaoru took a minute to look at her, since he had been to groggy on previous occasions to really take in her appearance.

She was shorter than him by about an inch, and slender, but she had a strength about her that made him think that she could easily take care of herself.

Kaoru moved from her body to her face. He supposed that she was really rather beautiful, but he hadn't really noticed it until now because she always wore such a hard, guarded expression when awake. Even her smile was guarded! But now, as Kaoru gazed down at her sleeping form, he realized for the first time how lovely she truly was. She had high, defined cheekbones, a defined jaw line and smooth, blemish-free skin. Her hair was very short. 'Like Haruhi' Kaoru thought. It was, however, much more wild than their friends, and seemed to have been done that way deliberately. There was a light dusting of freckles on her nose and cheeks. It was then that Kaoru noticed that the girls' nose was slightly crooked, as if it had been broken once, or perhaps several times.

She was relatively small and didn't seem to weigh very much. Most of her body was covered by baggy cloths (presumably her pyjamas) but she had slender forearms and tiny, delicate hands, which were rather disproportionate to the size of her body. Her neck, the only other part of her body that Kaoru could see, was slender and long, blending seamlessly into her jaw line. There were two silver chains, along with a gold one, and what appeared to be a piece of string hanging around it.

He reached out towards them, curious as to why she wore them. He reached first for the gold chain. On it was a heart shaped locket of moderate size. Kaoru wondered if he could risk opening it. He quickly glanced at her face to make sure she was still deeply rooted in the world of dreams, then snapped the locket open. Within it was a photograph of Julie and a boy, who Kaoru assumed was Joshua, judging by their resemblance. The two of them were looking at one another, him looking as if he were telling some sort of story, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth, while she was laughing; eyes closed, head tipped back, mouth slightly open in a wide smile. Kaoru stared at the picture for a couple of moments, slightly in shock. He had never seen her so relaxed and carefree, even in sleep. It was perhaps the presence of her twin, Kaoru mused. Maybe she just felt complete when he was there, just like he himself felt when Hikaru was by his side.

Kaoru snapped himself out of his reverie and grabbed the string, which, upon touching it, he identified as a piece of leather. As he tugged it gently from out of her pyjama top so he could look at it, it jingled softly.

It was covered in charms, some modern looking, some Native American looking. The charms were divided by beads of different sorts of rock; Kaoru identified turquoise, quartz and rose quartz, sandstone, jasper, blown glass in several different colours (clear, green, brown-nothing fancy) and amethyst. The charms, however, were what held most of Kaorus' attention. There were twelve, and they varied from an eagles feather to a round piece of silver with the letters CAF engraved on it. Kaoru took a moment to look each of them over and attempted to glean their significance somehow.

There was the eagles feather, which Kaoru remembered stood for bravery from a project he and Hikaru had done in middle school. A yin yang symbol hung next to it, then the American symbol for peace*. Next was a green circle with white markings- they must have had some significance, but Kaoru couldn't fathom what. After that was a golden pendent in the shape of a cat that looked vaguely Egyptian. Following it was another gold pendant, but this one was strange. It was an oval, painted black and set on an angle with a pointed, jagged capital "R" on it, painted yellow. There was a delicate rose of silver and a snowflake. An opal in the shape of a heart and inlayed in gold followed them. A silver dolphin curved around a bead of blue glass and a pair of golden ballet slippers, or perhaps Pointe shoes, made up the remaining charms.

Only one made absolutely no sense to Kaoru, the green one not counting; the silver CAF oval. What did CAF even stand for? He flipped it over, but all that it said was "Made in Canada" in small, English letters, just like the letters on the front. He felt Julie stir slightly and gently set the necklace down and moved on to the two silver chains that remained.

The first yielded nothing particularly interesting- only a rather simple silver cross adorned with a couple of small emeralds.

Kaoru was reaching for the last chain, which turned to be stainless steel, not silver, and was significantly thinker and more durable looking than the others, when a hand shot out of seemingly nowhere and grasped his wrist in a vice-like grip, an he nearly jumped out of his skin. Julie looked up at him, wide awake, guarded expression back in place.

"What are you doing?" she asked, looking confused and sounding slightly tired, her grip loosening on his arm as she looked around, taking in the situation at hand. Her expression hardened and Kaoru winced as the pressure on his wrist increased again.

"Did you see it?" She asked the question calmly, but her eyes burned with fury at this blatant invasion of her privacy. Kaoru looked at her in confusion.

"See what?"

She moved as quickly that it took him a minute to register that she was no longer laying at his side, but standing next to the bed. He wondered how she had done this for a moment before she spoke again, snapping him back to the present.

"The pendent on the silver chain, did you see it?"

"The cross?" he asked her, bewildered.

"No! The other silver chain!"

"Technically, it's stainless steel, not-"

"JUST ANSWER THE QUESTION!" Her voice sounded half crazed and really quite scary. Kaoru shook his head mutely and she seemed to regain her composure somewhat, though she still looked furious.

"I cannot believe that you would completely invade my privacy like that!" she yelled, then took a deep breath and continued in her normal tone. "I thought I could trust you… So you had better have a good explanation for this." She looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to speak.

He began haltingly, but slowly gained confidence. "I-I was only curious… They were just lying there around your neck and I wanted to know what they were, because I want to get to know you…" He figured she wouldn't take it well, but he couldn't help asking, "What do those charms mean, anyways?"

"None of your business." she said coldly. Taking another deep breath, she continued, "As for getting to know me, you could have just asked, instead of looking at my PERSONAL BELONGINGS!" Her voice had risen again by the time she reached the end of the sentence. "Those are MINE and you just- you- AHH!" she screamed and punched the nearest wall, breathing hard.

"I'm going out for a while." she said curtly, and rather abruptly. She walked over to the bed where he still sat, and stood on it, removing a small piece of the metal ceiling.

"Julie-" Kaoru started.

"BE QUIET!" she yelled, then in a much quieter, chocked voice she continued, "Just be quiet. I don't want to hear it." Then she hoisted herself up through the hole with deceptively strong arms, and she was gone.

***= I'm not sure if it's actually american, but we're gonna pretend it is...**

**Kudos to anyone who can guess what superheros the green and white charm and the R belong to. Your first hint is that they are both from the DC Universe.  
>The green symbol is the symbol of a group of heros from different planets<br>The R's owner wears alot of red and green along with yellow anad black.**

**Those hints make it fairly obvious to me. The reward for getting both correct is... I dunno yet... I'll think of something though! JM**


	4. Chapter 4

**Greetings! **

**Sorry it took me so long to unload this... University level chemistry is killer. My exam is next Friday, so this will be the last update until then. But, I do have the next chapter completely finished, and the sixth one is in the works...**

**The challenge I introduced last chapter is still open (see authors note at the end of Chapter 3) and it now has prize; I will write you a one-shot of you choice. I do have a couple of giudelines, which I will post as a sepeate chapter in a moment because they are rather long.**

**That being said, this was written in memory of my grandfather, who would have turned 77 today. He died when I was five. Admittedly, this is a bit of a filler chapter, because I was having a bit of trouble with the next chapter... It introduces the torture mentionned in the summery. I had a large issue with that...**

**Anyways, enjoy the chapter anyways!**

**Disclaimer:****I own nothing. The song used is "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again" from The Phantom of the Opera. The music belongs to Andrew Lloyd Webber, and the lyrics to Charles Hart.**

**Chapter Four**

There was no clock in the room, so Kaoru didn't know exactly how long Julie had been gone for, but it had to have been at least a couple of hours.

Idly, Kaoru wondered how long he had been there for, and when dinner, or breakfast, or whatever, would be served. His eyelids felt heavy, and he didn't want to give in to the urge to close them and sleep, because he wanted to talk to Julie when she got back- no to mention he might end up sleeping through mealtime. He couldn't resist the lure of sleep for long, though, and soon it engulfed him in it's beautiful nothingness.

o0O0o

He awoke to the sound of someone landing on the floor, presumably Julie. Something inside of him kept him from sitting up and talking to her, or even fully opening his eyes, though he couldn't fathom what, or why.

Through the tiniest slit between his eyelashes, he watched as she moved around the room. She appeared tired, no, exhausted, and the way she held herself wasn't as strong as before she left.

As Kaoru watched, she opened a drawer in the small dresser that he had failed to notice before now, and pulled out what appeared to be a round piece of silver on a chain. She pressed a button on the top, and Kaoru realized that it was a watch.

Julie slid to the floor, clutching the watch to her chest.

"Hi, Grandpa," she said quietly, "how have you been?"

"I got a new roommate; his name is Kaoru and he's Japanese…" Her voice trailed off, then she whispered, so softly that Kaoru had had to strain to hear, "I miss you, Grandpa. I miss you so much!" She drew in a shuddering breath. "Even now, eleven years later, it still hurts."

She raised her voice slightly and started to sing.

"Whishing you were somehow here again  
>Whishing you were somehow near<br>Sometimes it seems  
>If I just dream<br>Somehow you would be here"

He had heard that voice somewhere before…

"Whishing I could hear your voice again  
>Knowing that I never could<br>Dreaming of you  
>Helped me to do<br>All that you dreamed I would"

It was so familiar… Kaoru tried as hard as he could to remember, but nothing was coming to him. It was really quite infuriating.

"Passing bells and sculpted angels  
>Cold and monumental<br>Seem for you the wrong companions  
>You were warm and gentle"<p>

He had been so close to figuring it out when she started to cry, deep, heart-wrenching sobs that made the next words of the song near impossible to understand.

"Too many years fighting back tears  
>Why can't the past just DIE!"<p>

She had been sobbing violently, and then suddenly she wasn't, and she had jumped to her feet, screaming the last line to the heavens above. The sudden loudness startled Kaoru, and he almost lost his train of thought. Her voice barely decreased in volume as she sang the next line.

"Whishing you were somehow here again"

She took a deep breath and continued quietly, in a broken sort of voice.

"Knowing we must say good-bye…"

There it was again… That fantastic sense of familiarity that Kaoru couldn't quite place.

"Try to forgive  
>Teach me to live<br>Give me the strength to try!"

Her voice grew stronger as she sang, and Kaoru got closer to remembering where he had heard her voice before, but the answer still sat tantalisingly out of reach, like a half forgotten memory… or a dream…

"No more memories,  
>No more silent tears<br>No more gazing across the wasted years…"

Yes, a dream… That was when he had heard this voice before. Today, in fact, she had sung him to sleep at his own insistence. So, it hadn't been a dream, then?

As Kaoru mused on this, Julie sank back to the floor, the pocket-watch open in her hand. Softly, so softly that Kaoru barely hear it, she half whispered, half sang;

"Help me say good-bye…"

With more strength this time, as one of her tiny hands closed around the watch, shutting it in the process, she sang the last line of the song.

"Help me say…  
>Good-bye…"<p>

She leaned her head back against the wall, and for a moment there was silence.

"It was you." Kaoru said suddenly.

"It was me who what?" she replied, not sounding surprised in the slightest that he was actually awake. Kaoru decided against commenting on this fact due to the gut feeling that told him that it wouldn't end well if he did. Or perhaps it was the look on her face, that wary, guarded look that was so much more intense than usual. It hurt Kaoru a bit that his stupid curiosity had caused this rift between them so soon after he had met her. There was just something about her… Kaoru couldn't place it, but it was drawing him to her, and he didn't want to screw it up.

Her irritable "Are you going to answer me?" snapped him out of his thoughts.

"What?"

"What did I do?" He looked at her in confusion.

She sighed I exasperation.

"You said 'It was you.' So, I'm asking it was me who what? What did I do?"

Oh! Right… It was you who was singing earlier."

"Yes, it was… What of it?" she snapped, sounding as if she was still rather irritated.

An awkward silence fell and Kaoru hesitated to break it… What if what he wanted to say didn't go over the way he wanted it to, and drove them even further apart?

Kaoru decided he was going to have to risk it; the silence was getting unbearable. He took a deep breath to settle his nerves, and opened his mouth to speak…

No sound came out.

Kaoru sighed, slightly irritated with himself. He'd never been so nervous about talking to somebody, or saying something to someone before! And it was something so stupid too!

He resigned himself to the most awkward silence he had ever experienced in his life, opening his mouth, then closing it again a moment later every once in a while. Julie continued to sit on the floor, head tilted back to rest against the wall, eyes closed, pocket watch up against her ear.

…

This silence was going to kill him, it really, truly was.

…

"You have a really nice voice." Kaoru blurted out suddenly, surprising both himself and Julie.

"What did you just say?" she asked him, shock written all over her features.

Kaoru looked down at his hands, which had become inexplicably fascinating. "I said that you have a really nice voice." he muttered, cheeks burning. What was happening to him? What was it about her that made him feel like such a blundering idiot? Kaoru made sure to file that thought away for later, because right now he needed to focus on the situation at hand, lest Julie punch his lights out. She certainly seemed strong enough to…

He risked a glimpse up at her. She had a mix of emotions on her face. She looked pleased, flattered, puzzled, shocked, wary, and slightly troubled, all at the same time.

"Thank you." she replied softly after a minute.

Once again, silence fell, bit it was a different sort of silence; comfortable, as opposed to tense. And Kaoru thought that maybe, just maybe, things would turn out okay after all.

**So... Thoughts? Leave a review. Honestly, a bunch or people have favorited this, which I appreciate, but I really enjoy the feedback. Anyways, off to watch Harry Potter... Catch you later! ~JM**


	5. Challenge Guidelines

**Reward One-Shot Guideline Things**

So, there are a few things that need to be said before you can send in your one-shot requests.

1. You actually need to complete the challenge. It's not easy, but going to the DCU website should make it fairly simple… What can I say. I'm a major comic book nerd…

2. I don't write slash, or yaoi, or whatever you want to call it. That isn't to say that I don't enjoy it, because I do, but I'm not confident enough in my writing of anything even vaguely romantic to take it outside of anything that I'm not already familiar with.

3. I will only write for certain fandoms, which will be listed momentarily. If it is anything outside of the list, then I am probably unfamiliar with it. I apologize in advance if what you were looking for is not on the list.

4. I also will not write lemons or anything remotely like them, for the same reasons I don't write slash.

5. I'm not very good at anything very angsty, just so you know before hand

Here is the list…

Harry Potter (prefferably Marauders, but whenever works.)

Ouran High School Host Club (the twins and Mori-sempai are my favs)

Teen Titans

Artemis Fowl

Percy Jackson

Fruits Basket (Kyo and Hatori are preffered)

Storm Hawks

Star Wars (don't really care here, but I like the original trilogy best.)

The Big Bang Theory

Criminal Minds (Dr. Reid if possible)

Batman (preferably Robin related)

That's all. So, yeah… Off to continue watching Harry Potter!


	6. Chapter 5

**Greetings everyone! Sorry I've been away so long... My friend got me hooked on Black Butler, and I had to watch the whole thing... And then I needed to draw a picture of Sebastian in his hooker boots ;P If you've seen it, you'll know what I mean... If not, go watch it. Now.**

**Ahem. Anyways, this is the latest chapter of Never Leave You, which includes the torture mentionned in the summary. It would be really nice if someone could tell me if this needs to be bumped up to an M rating of not, because I'm not quite sure.**

**Oh, and congratulations to seqka711, the first person to sucessfully complete my challange. It will be open until next chapter, in case anyone cares.**

**This was the chapter from HELL. Honest to God, I rewrote it about four times, and I'm still not really happy with it. But, it's better than it was, so here you go!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ouran High School Host Club. The song You'll Be In My Heart belongs to Phil Collins/Genesis and Disney.**

**Chapter Five**

It was about a week later when Kaoru first realized the gravity of the situation they were in.

o0O0o

Things had been rather monotonous up to that point; meals were inserted through a flap in the door, showers every other day, under heavy supervision by armed henchmen. Other than those brief excursions, he was confined to the room with Julie.

Sometimes, she would head out through the hole in the ceiling but for the most part she stayed with him. She was a very secretive person, Kaoru realized, the longer he spent in her company. She answered almost none of the questions he asked he, and the few she did, not to his satisfaction. Her jewellery was the one thing he had never brought up, and that was because of her reaction last time it had come up in conversation. Sure, she may have said it didn't really matter and she wasn't that mad at him anyways, but Kaoru wasn't risking it- she had looked so scary last time, and now that he thought back on it, Kaoru thought that he may have seen a hint of sadness and betrayal on her face as well. To know that he had caused these emotions… It haunted him, that look, and he had vowed never to cause it to appear again.

'I'm going soft…' Kaoru chuckled to himself on the occasions when he thought of this. There was a time when not even the look of total heartbreak on a girl's face would have fazed him, and now… The tiniest hint of sadness and he was on the worst guilt trip of his entire life! Maybe it was the fact that he had always had Hikaru by his side before, or maybe it was because she was the only person he really had now… Or maybe it was that strange attraction he felt towards her that he kept meaning to thin about, but conveniently forgot about when a chance came up. Whatever the reason, Kaoru knew for certain that he would never again deliberately cause her pain.

o0O0o

On this particular day, Kaoru was laying on the bed, bored out of his brain while Julie sat in her usual spot in the corner, meditating. He had attempted to join her on a couple of occasions, but that hadn't ended well so… Kaoru was stuck counting the blots in the ceiling.

He had gotten to 147 when he heard the distinct sound of the lock on their door being opened. He snuck a glace at Julie just in time to see her eyes snap open. She moved quickly and fluidly, rolling up from the ground where she had been sitting cross legged into a standing position, just as the door swung open silently.

There were two of the armed henchmen standing in the doorway, one brandishing a machine gun, and the other too bulked up to bother with weapons. Machine-gun started to speak, in English. Despite the fact that Kaoru knew the language, (it was the one subject his mother insisted that they take) he made no effort to listen to what the man was saying, and instead turned his attention to Julie.

She was standing in a relaxed but cautious, no, guarded manner. Kaoru realized that it was very similar the way in which Mori-sempai stood at the start of a Kendo match- calm, confident, yet wary of the opponent all the same. It was rather unnerving, the resemblance between her and the Kendo master.

Kaorus' musings were, once again, interrupted as Machine-gun directed his words towards him.

"Hey kid! Get up, it's time to go. Weren't you listening?"

Kaoru blinked. Julie rolled her eyes and sighed.

Machine-gun whirled around to face her. "What're you sighin' for?"

"He's Japanese." she replied.

"What's your point? I know he's Japanese, I read the file!"

"Oh, marvellous. So, did it ever occur to you that he may not speak English?"

Both men were silent at that.

Kaoru decided that he really ought to tell Julie, at least, that he did, in fact, speak English. So, in Japanese he said, "Actually I do speak English… I just wasn't paying attention…"

She raised her eyebrows. "Let's just keep that our little secret, kay?" He nodded.

"Anyways, we're supposed to go with them."

"Why? Shower day is tomorrow…"

"I dunno, but I don't think it's going to be pleasant."

Kaoru looked at the two men's faces and decided that Julie was probably right; this would most certainly not be pleasant.

o0O0o

They walked for a few minutes, silently, through areas of the compound that Kaoru had never seen before. The sheer size and complexity of the operation made him feel small, vulnerable and insignificant. It wasn't a feeling he enjoyed, and his hand instinctively sought Hikaru's.

The hand that he grasped was nothing like his brothers. It was small, dainty, with slender fingers and soft, yet slightly calloused skin.

He went to pull away, horrified with himself for having taken her hand, but she squeezed his hand softly, and Kaoru thought that maybe she was just as scared as he was.

She didn't look it, though; her face was a mask of calm. She caught him looking at her and gave a reassuring smile, but Kaoru saw the nervousness in her eyes all the same. He actually felt better for it; whatever was in store for them, they would face it… Together.

o0O0o

They wandered through the compound for about 15 minutes, twisting and turning, seemingly at random, and by the time they arrived at the nondescript metal door, Kaoru had absolutely no idea where in the world he was.

The door slid open to reveal… blackness. Muscles pushed the two of them forward and the door slid shut.

He couldn't see anything but black. He couldn't hear anything but his own laboured breathing, and the beating of his pounding heart inside of his chest. The only comfort he had was the feel of Julie's small hand within his own. He clung to it, the only thing keeping him grounded, the slender fingers, the scar on the outside of her thumb, the bump on her middle fingernail… And she clung to him just as much as he did to her.

A voice spoke, coming from everywhere and nowhere all at once. It said, in clipped English, "Hello, patients 1104 and 1107."

Julie whispered to him softly, "Pretend you don't understand him, and I'll pretend to translate for you." Kaoru nodded, then realised she couldn't see him, so he sheepishly said, "Okay."

Suddenly, there was a faint light trickling into the room, in a small, rectangular crack, that Kaoru realized must be the outline of a door.

The voice spoke again, in the same mechanical, clipped tone, "Please proceed through the doorway."

Julie said, in Japanese, "Must be some sort of automated voice system."

"So… do we go through the door then?"

"Doesn't really look like we have much of a choice, now, does it?"

She started walking towards the door, and Kaoru was forced to trail behind her due to their still joined hands. She didn't hesitate in reaching for where the door handle should have been, but, in the dim light, Kaoru could see her shaking slightly. He squeezed her hand in what he hoped was a reassuring manner, and she gave him a small, tense smile. The door swung open.

o0O0o

The room they entered reminded Kaoru of a hospital; white, clinically clean, sterile, cold… It made him nervous just looking at it. There were lines of chairs alone the walls, but they didn't go to sit down, and Kaoru felt Julie tense beside him. She pushed on his arm, forcing him behind her slightly. He was about to ask her why, when a man walked through another door that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere from the far wall.

"Hello there," he said pleasantly. "I'm doctor James Peterson and I'm in charge of this operation."

"This is the part where you pretend I'm translating for you, okay?" Julie murmured in Kaoru's general direction.

"There's no need to translate, Miss Rutherford-Hopkins. I am well aware that Mr Hitachiin here has taken English classes in school."

"With all due respect, sir," Julie had made the language switch effortlessly, "taking an English course in school and being capable of conversational English are two very different things."

The doctor's eyebrows rose a fraction of an inch. "Very well worded, Miss Rutherford-Hopkins, and a valid point, too. You may continue to translate for Mr Hitachiin."

Julie said nothing in return, simply inclining her head slightly, but Kaoru swore he saw a hint of a smile playing at the edges of her lips.

"But," doctor Peterson continued, "It is time for us to continue on to your appointment."

"What appointment?" Kaoru wanted to ask, but at a sharp glance from Julie, he contained himself.

"Please, follow me." the doctor said, smiling in what seemed to be an attempt at friendly and reassuring, but only served to make Kaoru feel even more nervous about what awaited them beyond the new door-wall that had just swung open, directly next to the one that Dr. Peterson had entered the room through.

They walked forward cautiously, into another clinically white room, this one with a table in the centre and some chains near the walls. There were also a couple stainless steel tables who's tops were covered. The door they had entered through swung shut, then abruptly opened again to reveal two men of moderate size, holding a girl aged about five between them.

"José, Antonio," James said, "I thought I told you to be done with punishments by 2:30- you knew we had an appointment." His voice was no longer friendly; in fact it had become rather cold and threatening, and Kaoru felt a shiver wrack his body.

"We're sorry, boss, but this one's roommate's quite protective, so we to make to teach him not to mess with us before we could start on her." The called Antonio said in a heavily Spanish accent. Julie shot Kaoru an I-told-you-so sort of look, and Kaoru's face twisted in confusion. She sighed and mouthed "South America…" just as the doctor began to speak again.

"Very well. I don't have anything scheduled for today. How long will this take?"

"Not too long, boss." the other man, José replied, "She's scared stiff already; we're only really doing it because that's protocol."

Dr. Peterson jerked his head in what Kaoru assumed was supposed to be a nod. "Perfect. Ms. Rutherford-Hopkins, Mr. Hitachiin and I will wait."

"What are they going to do to her?" Kaoru whispered to Julie, who turned troubled blue eyes towards him.

"I don't know." she said, her face unreadable.

Kaoru turned his face to the two men, who had now strapped the small girl to the table in the centre of the room, and had hit an unseen control to stand it up. The girl was sobbing, with a look of abject terror on her face. Antonio busied himself with removing the girl's clothing, a perverse smile on his face, leaving her in only her underwear, while José pulled the cloths off the surfaces of the tables. They were covered in weapons, and Kaoru had a sinking feeling in his stomach when he realized what was going to come nest. He heard Julie curse softly nest to him as her body tensed up, and he figured that she had come to the same conclusion as him.

The doctor walked up to the girl and spoke so softly that Kaoru had to strain his ears to hear.

"Now Kiera. Do you know why you're here?"

The small girl, Kiera, nodded her head slightly, whimpering quietly.

"Please, tell me."

Kiera's voice was broken because of her tears, and she sounded absolutely terrified.

"Be-because I y-y-yelled at th-the guard-d who was-was t-taking me to the sho-shower and I-I said I want-wanted my si-sister."

"That's right. And why was it wrong to do this?"

"Be-because it was di-dis-disrespectful."

"Good girl, Kiera! One last question: what happens to people who break the rules in this facility?"

"They get pu-pun-puni-punished."

"Correct. José, Antonio, you may begin."

o0O0o

It was horrible to watch. The two men worked diligently and never broke concentration as they slowly mutilated the small body in front of them. They used only the smallest of knives, and seemed focused on her collarbone and the area surrounding it. Their bodies blocked exactly what they were doing, but Kaoru could see Kiera's arms twitching as the blades pierced her skin, could see the blood dripping on to the floor in growing red pools.

Kaoru felt sick watching this, but he couldn't seem to tear his eyes away from the gruesome spectacle. He felt Julie's grip on his hand tighten more and more as the time passed, until it was an almost painful pressure. He didn't dare say anything though.

Kiera never stopped screaming.

o0O0o

After an agonizingly long amount of time, José and Antonio unfastened little Kiera from her bonds and left her on the floor to clean up.

Julie started towards the fallen girl, and Kaoru, not wanting to let go of her hand, followed behind.

"Hello, Kiera. Are you alright?" Julie spoke in the soft, soothing tone she had used when he had awoken from his dream of Hikaru a week ago.

Kiera shook her head no, and began to sob again in earnest. Kaoru saw one of the henchmen start towards them, but at a nod from James, he stopped and continued on with his work.

Julie dropped Kaoru's hand and knelt nest to the little girl.

"May I see your wounds?" she asked hesitantly. Kiera lifted her head, and Kaoru felt another wave of nausea come over him at what he saw.

On her small chest, they had carved in words, which stood out dark red in contrast to her pale skin. They read: Do not disrespect authority figures- Rule #12.

"Those bastards." Julie muttered, "However, you will heal with time, at least physically. There will be major scarring though." She looked at Kiera for a moment before asking, "Would you like a hug, sweetheart?"

Kiera's eyes filled with tears again, and she buried her face in Julie's shoulder. Julie wrapped an arm around her, careful not to touch her chest, and stroked her hair, rocking slightly on the balls of her feet. She put her mouth down near Kiera's ear, and softly began to sing.

"Come stop your crying

It'll be alright

Just take my hand

Hold it tight

I will protect you

From all around you

I will be here, don't you cry."

Kiera's sobs had diminished slightly as Julie's voice continued to weave the soft melody around her.

"For one so small

You seem so strong

My arms will hold you

Keep you safe and warm

This bond between us

Can't be broken

I will be here, don't you cry."

José came over at that moment, just as Julie began the next line. "It's time to go, Kiera." he said rather harshly. "Move it. NOW!"

Kiera got to her feet with a bit of help from Julie and headed towards the door, stumbling slightly as she tried to keep up with José's long strides.

Julie stood up and wiped the blood off of her hands on her shirt. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then slowly let it out.

Kaoru wanted to ask her why she had done that, but the doctor spoke to them before he got the chance.

"Mr. Hitachiin, Ms. Rutherford-Hopkins, your appointment will begin very shortly. While we wait for the cameras to load," he gestured to a pair of screens that had been revealed by yet another sliding wall, "Antonio here will set one of you up for the experiment."

"What does me mean, experiment?" Kaoru asked Julie, alarmed.

"Isn't it obvious?" she replied, a layer of bitterness coating her voice, "They're going to torture us, too."

"Why?"

"To test the bond between twins, of course. I told you this already."

Yes, but you never mentioned that it included torture, now did you?"

"Well, I never knew about that until we entered this room, but it makes sense, in a way."

Before Kaoru could retort again, the doctor asked, "Have you worked out who will be going first?"

Kaoru was about to shake his head no when Julie stepped forwards.

"Yes, we have. I will be going first."

Dr. Peterson nodded his head slowly. "Very well then. Antonio!"

And before Kaoru could object and say that they had not, in fact, agreed on upon this, Antonio had grabbed Julie's arm roughly, and begun to lead her towards the table.

She jerked her arm out of his grasp with a bone chilling glare.

"I am capable of walking by myself." she stated.

She walked over to stand by the table. "Is there a need for me to remove my clothing?" She directed the question at Antonio, but it was James who answered the query.

"Yes, there will be. Why do you ask?"

"Because I'm certainly not letting him," she pointed at Antonio, "do it. No, I would much rather take care of it myself." And with that, she pulled her shirt over her head.

Kaoru almost wanted to laugh, though the situation wasn't funny in the slightest. She was wearing a pale pink bra with moose on it, and it was just so Julie that it made him want to burst into hysterics.

She pulled off her pants, which left her standing there in only her undergarments. She stepped away from her clothing and lay down on the table. Antonio had just finished pinning her limbs when José walked back in.

Her looked her over appreciatively, and Kaoru felt boiling rage suddenly form in the pit of his stomach. How dare he look at her like she was just a toy, to be used and then discarded?

Antonio hit the button to stand the table up, and the reality of the situation sunk in. Julie was about to be tortured. The beautiful, pale skin that lay before him would be mutilated and mangled beyond recognition, that elegant visage would be twisted in pain, those slender limbs would jerk uncontrollably as the blades pierced her body.

Kaoru tried to look away, but found that he couldn't break his eyes away her body as she waited, eyes closed, for the first blow to land.

o0O0o

It was Antonio who lowered his knife first, careful to avoid the fabric of her bra as he sliced a long line from her left shoulder to her right hip. She inhaled sharply, but didn't make a sound.

The entire time, she didn't make a sound.

o0O0o

Kaoru managed to tear his eyes away from her with much difficulty, for naught but a moment, and only because he was so curious as to what was on the screens.

There were two video feeds, of two people in two different location, doing completely different things, unaware of the existence of one another, yet linked together in grief and worry for the person they held closest to their heart.

Hikaru and Joshua.

o0O0o

Kaoru was seriously beginning to regret having followed Julie when she moved to comfort Kiera what seemed like years ago, because he now had a perfect view of her torso. It was nearly making him sick to watch, but his traitorous eyes refused to close of let him look away for more than a moment at a time.

It was horrendously captivating, beautifully sickening and so perfectly disturbing. Kaoru wanted it to end, yet he didn't in some sort of sick way, all at the same time.

It was hypnotic.

o0O0o

A flash of silver, a gasp of pain, a river of red drip-drip-dripping onto the concrete floor, joining its brethren in an ever expanding pool.

o0O0o

Kaoru wondered how much blood a person could lose and still survive.

o0O0o

He wanted to yell at them to stop hurting her, to say that they had done enough for one day, to take him instead.

But something within himself held him back.

o0O0o

After an eternity of more spent watching her bleed, they relented. Her body was released from its bonds and she collapsed to the floor.

The two men started to clean up, meticulously. One pulled her body up and began to drag her towards the door. She jerked her arm away in a move reminiscent of her earlier bravado.

"I can walk by myself." she said.

And she did, back straight, head up, tall and proud and dignified, despite the fact that she was swaying on her feet and stumbling every couple of steps.

It was awe inspiring to watch.

o0O0o

They had stripped him down to his underwear and strapped him to the table. He felt vulnerable and scared and weak and powerless and it wasn't a pleasant feeling in the slightest.

o0O0o

When the blade pierced his skin for the first time, he let out an involuntary cry of pain. How had she done it? She hadn't screamed not once.

As the pain continued to build, his screams rose and grew less human and more animalistic, and he was sickened with himself for crying out.

Because she hadn't screamed, not once.

o0O0o

He didn't know where he was. He didn't know how long he had been there. He didn't even know his own name. All he knew was the pain.

The pain defined him, the pain was the only thing that existed in his entire world.

And the pain was the last thing he knew as he finally slipped into the welcome blackness that washed over him in warm, gentle waves and numbed all things.

o0O0o

The entire time, Doctor James Peterson watched, emotionless, expressionless, as the two teenagers went through what many would consider to be Hell on earth.


	7. Chapter 6

**This should have been posted a week ago, but the wouldn't let me log in, and then I was in Ottawa. So, in other words, I'm sososo sorry that this is so late!**

**That being said, my challenge introduced in chapter three is now closed, as the answers are revealed in this chapter. I'm gonna write them in her too, in case anybody actually bothers to read my montorous author's notes... The green and white charm is the Green Lanern Symbol. The R belongs to Robin the Boy Wonder, Batman's original sidekick. Thank you to all those who tried, and congratulations to all winners!**

**Oh, I'm also still in need of a beta reader... Someone wanna recommend me one?**

**I'm gonna stop rambling for now, but there will be an authors note at the bottom that I feel the need to write, and would appreciate if people read. Thanks, and enjoy!**

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own Ouran High School Host Club. The song used at the beginning is 'Twenty-Four' and it belongs to Switchfoot. Green Lantern, Robin, and all other mentionned superheroes belong to DC comics.**

**Chapter Six**

When Kaoru came to, it was, once again, to Julie's voice, singing softly.

"I wanna see miracles  
>See the world change<br>Wrestle the angel  
>For more than a name<br>For more than a feeling  
>For more than a cause<br>Singing- Oh!"

Her voice broke off when she realized that he was awake.

"How are you feeling?" she asked gently, worry evident in her features.

Kaoru realized that he really had no idea how he was feeling, so he decided to take a moment and observe his surroundings before coming to a conclusion.

His mind felt sluggish and slow, but he wasn't in any pain, which came as quite a surprise. Julie was looking down at him, and that's when Kaoru realized that he was laying with his head in her lap. He felt feather light touches on his forehead, and realized she was stroking his hair.

It really wasn't uncomfortable when he stopped to think about it…

"Yeah, I'm okay." Kaoru replied. "How long was I out for?" He tried to sit up, but there was an intense jolt of pain across his torso, and he gasped. A pair of cool hands touched his shoulders and forced him to lay back down. The hair-stroking resumed.

"Try not to move too much; it'll irritate your wounds. I'll go get some more ointment."

She carefully shifted out from under him, sliding a pillow under his head as she did.

"They left us a first aid kit." She threw the words over her shoulder. "It isn't much, but it we'll have to make do."

Kaoru noticed that her movements were very careful and small, and with a jolt her remembered that she had been tortured as well.

She returned to his side holding a slender tube, already mostly empty, twisted and mangled. With a feeling of slight horror he realized that she was going to use that last of the lotion on him.

"No." he said as she sat next to him and took the lid off of the container.

"What do you mean, no?"

"No. I don't want it." He pushed her hands away from his body forcefully.

"Don't be stupid Kaoru, of course you do." She was smiling, but her eyes held a warning, don't-you-dare-contradict-me sort of expression.

He steeled his nerves as he prepared to do just that.

"I don't want it. You use it instead."

She laughed, and Kaoru looked at her in shock. He had just done a very selfless thing, and she was laughing at him!

"What the hell are you laughing at?" he asked her moodily.

She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and took a couple of deep breaths to calm herself down.

"I'm sorry Kaoru… but… It's just… that was so stereotypical of you, thinking that since I'm a girl I need this more than you do, when it's actually the other way around."

Her face grew serious, sombre. "Don't worry about me. I can take the pain. I'll be fine."

She moved her hands towards him again and, again, he swatted her away.

"No, you take it. Please."

He turned the puppy dog eyes on to her. Didn't she understand that he had promised himself that he would never deliberately hurt her again? Taking this from her would be breaking that promise.

"Kaoru," she spoke in a calm but deadly tone, "just take the damn ointment."

"NO! You'll be in pain, and-"

She cut him off abruptly. "I said I can take it!" she said sharply.

"But I won't let you be in pain. I won't!"

She looked at him, anger blazing in her eyes. His eyes drifted down from her face to her torso, unable to bear the look of anger for any longer, and he was alarmed to see a growing red stain on her shirt.

"Julie," said Kaoru, panic evident in his voice, "you're… bleeding."

She looked down at her chest in surprise, then muttered, "Aww damn it…" under her breath. She stood abruptly and walked towards the first aid kit, pulling her top off in the process.

"I really liked that shirt…!" she moaned childishly as she began to unwrap the bandages that were encasing her ribcage. Kaoru looked at her, shock mixed with a tiny bit of anger in his expression.

"Are you not concerned in the slightest that you are bleeding?"

She gave him a funny look. "I'm changing the bandages, aren't I?"

"Well yes, but you're acting so… so nonchalant about it. You're injured, and all you seem to care about is your stupid shirt!"

"Hey! It's a nice shirt! My aunt Jamie bought it for me…"

"That's beside the point! You're in pain, and you don't even seem to care!"

"That's because this isn't that bad! I've been in pain a lot worse that this in my life!"

Both of their eyes widened, Kaoru's in shock, Julie's in astonishment for actually having said that.

"What do you mean?" Kaoru asked.

She gave a resigned sigh. "Look at me, Kaoru. Look at my body."

He did.

And that's when he noticed that underneath the dark red cuts covering her torso, there were other scars, some faint, some fairly fresh and recent looking, criss-crossing her skin.

"Where on earth did you get all of those?" he demanded.

She was now rewrapping her body with a roll of thick gauze and studiously ignored the question.

"Julie," Kaoru said in what he hoped was a warning tone, "where did you get those scars?"

She continued to work for a brief moment before she began to speak.

"That…" she paused, "is none of your business."

And then there was silence.

Kaoru, for his part, was livid. What, or who, had done this to her? Was she abused at home? Why couldn't she tell him?

She finished with the gauze and put three pieces of medical tape across the edge to keep it stuck down.

"Look," she said, "it's not that I don't want to tell you, but I can't!"

"Why can't you?"

"I can't tell you that either."

"Why not?"

"It's classified." Her tone was brusque, and he looked at her, mildly shocked at her behaviour. She winced at the expression on his face. "Just… forget I even mentioned it, okay?"

"How the hell am I supposed to do that?"

"I don't know… Just… Oh God, I'm so bad with words!" She buried her face in her hands.

And once again, silence reigned supreme.

"It's why I sing so much you know." she said suddenly, surprising and confusing Kaoru quite a bit.

"Beg pardon?"

"I'm not very good with words. So, I try to find a song I can use to express what I'm feeling, or whatever I may be having trouble explaining for most any situation."

Kaoru wasn't quite sure where to go from there, or even what to say. "Ah, I see." was all he could force his rebellious vocal chords into saying.

She sighed softly.

"Except for… I don't have one for this. I've no idea what to say."

And silence fell again.

Kaoru realized that they had crossed a line at some point in this conversation. This wasn't about healing ointment anymore; it was something that could change the entire dynamic behind their slightly rocky relationship.

Now that he thought about it, he himself had no idea what to say in this situation either. So, he resigned himself to a silence crackling with tension and unspoken words.

Julie's body had slid to the floor and she continued to hide her face, now in the crack between her knees, as the tension in the silence continued to grow more intense.

They were teetering on the edge of something big now, Kaoru knew it. He didn't know what would happen either way, but he knew that this moment, right here, right now, would change everything that currently mattered in his world, which was himself, her, and the relationship they shared.

o0O0o

Kaoru wasn't a big fan of silence. It always felt so awkward with anyone besides Hikaru, so he tried to avoid it whenever possible. With a brother like his, it wasn't that difficult. The two of them weren't called the Little Devils for nothing- they thrived on chaos and noise and general insanity, Hikaru especially. Kaoru was more along for the ride.

Or so he thought. But now, in this suffocating silence unlike anything he had ever experienced, Kaoru realized that maybe he thrived on chaos and noise and general insanity just as much as his brother did.

o0O0o

They had probably only been sitting there for about five minutes or so, but to Kaoru it felt like it had been hours.

o0O0o

It was a new feeling for him, this not knowing what to do or say. He wasn't really sure how to deal with it.

It scared him, in a twisted sort of a way, if he were to be completely honest.

o0O0o

"Look," Julie said, finally breaking the ever-growing, oppressive silence. Her voice was so loud in comparison to the absolute absence of noise they had been experiencing that Kaoru nearly jumped out of his skin.

"Let's just start over, okay? Let's forget everything that's happened in the last little while and begin again on a clean slate."

Kaoru was shocked for a moment, before his face morphed into a more thoughtful expression. Start again… He quite liked the sound of that. Perhaps then he would get real answers out of her, if he played his cards right.

"Okay," he replied, mindful of his tone of voice, "that sounds good."

She smiled and walked over, taking a seat on the bed once again. After some more careful manoeuvring, his head rested once again in her lap and the gentle hair-stroking resumed. Kaoru sighed and leaned towards her touch.

She laughed lightly. "Enjoying yourself?" He grunted. She giggled again.

They sat in a much more comfortable silence for a time, and Kaoru was just beginning to doze off when the sound of her voice snapped him back to attention once more.

"Do you want to play Twenty Questions?"

He craned his neck slightly to look at her. "What's that?" he asked, rather puzzled.

"It's rather self-explanatory, Kaoru."

Twenty Questions…?

Oh.

Oh!

Duh…

"Why do you want to play that?" he asked, trying to distract her from his complete lack of common sense in that moment.

"You're the one who always goes on about getting to know me… Now you finally get a chance."

"Okay. So… How do you play, exactly?"

She sighed. "That's pretty self-explanatory too, Kaoru…"

At his look of exasperation and slight confusion, she relented to explaining the basics to him, but not before muttering "Honestly? You've never played Twenty Questions? What kind of deprived childhood have you lived?" At his glare, she finally got around to telling him the rules of the game.

"Pretty much, you take turns asking each other questions about any and everything. Normally, my friends and I play where if we refuse to answer a question, we have to take off an article of clothing, but judging by our current position and your current condition, plus the fact that we don't know each other very well means that we'll need to think up a different consequence." She paused for a moment, the added, "And it may be called Twenty Questions, but we used to just play until we got bored. So, in other words, there's really no limit.

Kaoru nodded his head. "Got it. What's our consequence gonna be?"

"Let's see… We can't bet anything, 'cause we don't have anything to bet… We can't really do much in the way of dares either…"

Julie got a thoughtful look on her face.

"There's only one thing I can think of that we could do in this situation, and it's really awkward…"

"What is it?"

"Well… Before we heard about the stripping idea from Scott's older sister, Arielle, we played maybe three or four rounds where you had to kiss whoever had asked you the question that you didn't want to answer."

Kaoru blinked owlishly, processing this in his head. "So… we'd just have to kiss?"

She was looking anywhere but his face, cheeks tinged with a bright but faint shade of pink, when she replied rather shortly and abruptly with a single word; "Yup."

"Nothing fancy like tongue of French kissing?"

She gave him a look and countered, "What kind of girl do you take me for, Kaoru Hitachiin?"

He laughed lightly at her comment then replied, "No then? Well, that's not too bad… Let's go for it,"

She quirked her eyebrow at him. "Really?"

"Yeah, sure. Why not?"

Despite how confident he sounded, on the inside Kaoru was a mess. The logical part of his brain was screaming at him, 'What the hell are you doing? You take that back right now!'

But, apparently, the rest of his brain wasn't listening to that small section, and Kaoru said nothing more on the subject.

Julie shrugged her shoulders in a very good impression of a casual manner. She seemed as unaffected as Kaoru was pretending to be, but he could tell from the slightly pink tinge that persisted on her cheeks that she was just as uncomfortable and embarrassed as he was. They were both far too proud ever to admit it though.

'This should be interesting…" Kaoru thought to himself, the slightest him of a smile hovering around the corners of his mouth.

And so the game began.

o0O0o

It was a very informative game, Kaoru realized. He had unearthed many interesting, albeit random, things about Julie over the course of the two or so hours they had been playing. Kaoru didn't actually know how long it had been- Julie's watch was set to Central Canadian time, and she said that unless she knew exactly where in South America they were, she wouldn't be able to tell him.

They hadn't exactly followed the rules of the game either… but when had either of the Hitachiin twins been known to stick to the straight and narrow? It was no big thing; they just took turns asking questions, and then they would both answer them for the most part. There was the odd personal question, like Julie asking Kaoru to explain what the Host Club was, but other than these few exceptions, they tried to keep things fairly generic.

Kaoru learned that Julie's favourite colour was either purple, turquoise or aquamarine, her favourite foods were plain Ritz crackers and manicotti, the most embarrassing thing that had ever happened to her was being pulled into a the lake by a ten pound bass when she was nine, while fishing off the dock at her great-grandparent's house, and that she enjoyed writing in her free time.

Kaoru, in turn, had told her more about himself than most of his own family knew. It wasn't really his fault- she was just so easy to talk to…

He had told her that his favourite colour was actually blue, but everyone thought it was orange except, of course, for Hikaru, that his favourite food was pancakes with maple syrup, that his most embarrassing moment when was Tamaki had accidentally pushed him into Hikaru, and they had ended up kissing for real in front of the ENTIRE Host Club AND it's patrons, and he enjoyed drawing in his very small amount of spare time.

Kaoru was really quite pleasantly surprised that this game had managed to keep his attention for so long a period of time. Normally, he lost interest in things rather quickly.

But… Miss Julie Rutherford-Hopkins really was a very fascinating person.

o0O0o

"What's you guilty pleasure?" he asked, God only knows how much later. Julie Blushed and mumbled something unintelligible under her breath.

Kaoru smirked.

"Sorry, could you repeat that? I didn't quite catch what it was that you said…"

Her face still on fire, Julie muttered, slightly louder this time around, "Manga and anime."

Kaoru blinked, surprised. "Really?"

Her blush deepened further, if that was even possible. "Yes really. They provide me with an escape from reality."

Kaoru debated asking her why she needed an escape from reality, but decided that it wasn't safe ground to tread on at this time. Instead he asked, "What sort of manga do you read?"

"A bit of everything, but my two favourites are Fruits Basket and Black Butler." She paused for a moment, looking slightly awkward, then said briskly, "Well, what about you? What's your guilty pleasure?

It was Kaoru's turn to blush. He had momentarily forgotten that he would have to reciprocate when he had asked the question, and was now seriously regretting it.

Her eyebrows rose at the (presumably very embarrassed) look on his face.

"Come on," she cajoled in a laughing voice, resting her right elbow on her knee, her face on her loosely clenched fist, and gazing down at him, a smile playing at the corners of her mouth, and mischief dancing in her deep blue orbs, "spill it, dude."

Kaoru made a face, crinkling up his nose in mock disgust.

"Did you just call me dude?"

She stuck her tongue out at him childishly. "Yes, I did. Now answer the question!"

Kaoru was still hesitant to reveal that particular piece of information. No, it was much too embarrassing.

But, then again, so was the alternative…

"Come on Kaoru!" Julie sing-songed.

"I don't wanna!" he whined pitifully.

"Well, it's your choice in the end," she began, completely straight faced, "but you know the consequence if you don't!" Her neutral expression had morphed into a cocky, confident smirk by the rime she was done speaking.

Kaoru took a deep breath, steeled his nerves for what was sure to come, tilted his head to look at her, pushed his body up slightly with his elbows, ignoring the searing pain shooting across his torso…

And kissed her.

Straight on the mouth.

It was nothing fancy; just a small, quick peck on the lips. It was still as embarrassing as hell though.

Kaoru had closed his eyes when he pulled away, more embarrassed than that day in Host Club, but when she didn't make a single sound for rather a large about of time, he cracked his eyes open and nearly started laughing at the look of complete and utter shock on her face.

Her eyes were wide and surprised, her mouth hung ever-so-slightly open, her eyebrows scrunched up slightly in confusion, blinking almost constantly, with her head cocked slightly to the left side and her mouth turned down at the corners.

The hilarity of the situation chased away his embarrassment that Kaoru managed to say cheekily, "Your turn!"

She shook herself out of her daze, and in a rather flustered voice stuttered out, "Oh, right… Umm… What's your, uh… favourite video game?"

And so the game continued.

o0O0o

An infinity later, Kaoru finally mustered up the courage to ask the question that had been plaguing his mind since they had begun to play.

"Will you tell me what the charms on you necklace mean?"

She blinked once and shrugged.

"Sure, which ones do you want to know about?"

Kaoru hesitated for a brief moment before saying, "All of them. Weather or not they actually mean anything, I still want to know why you wear them."

"Alright." Her voice was quiet, distant.

She pulled the cord off her neck and held it up. It jingled softly and glinted in the harsh florescent light of the room. She began to speak, voice soft and faraway.

"The beads and the leather were a gift from an old Cree woman named Tanis, which means daughter. She lives on the Native American Reserve near my house. She and her son, Mahihkan, which means wolf, also gave me the carving of the eagle's feather, because that's what they call me; Mikisow; eagle.

"That's a carving?"

"Umm… Yeah! Have you ever seen a real eagle's feather? They're about this long!" She indicated a distance of about a foot between her hands, "It would have hung down to my stomach! That would have made it hard to move without ruining it, plus I'm really ticklish… Anyways, the feather symbolises bravery.

"What about the others? Do they mean anything? Well," he amended, "besides the yin-yang one and peace over there. I already know those ones…"

"Well, the only other one that actually has any significance outside of personal, sentimental stuff is this one here."

She indicated the green-and-white circle that had so baffled Kaoru during his initial look-over.

"It means 'willpower'. It's also the symbol of the Green Lantern Corps."

Kaoru gave her a baffled look and she laughed sheepishly, blushing once more.

"Right. I keep forgetting that not everyone is as big a nerd as I am… The Green Lantern Corps. are a group of superheroes, each hailing from a different planet and the protectors of the universe. They're comic book characters from the DC universe."

He looked at her, mystified. He had never heard of anything quite like this, not in Japan. It was really quite interesting, to be honest…

"What do they do? What are their powers?" he asked, eager to learn more.

"They protect the quadrant they're assigned by The Guardians. They have something called a 'power ring' that runs on willpower, , and they can create anything they can imagine using one; their only limit is their own creativity."

Kaoru opened his mouth to ask her more about this Green Lantern Corps., but she cut him off, saying, "Do you want to hear about the rest of the charms or not?"

At his look of disappointment she added, "we'll talk Green Lantern later if you want, okay?" Kaoru nodded and gestured to the charm next to the Green Lantern symbol.

"What's that one, then?"

"This is Bast." she replied, fingering the cat shaped pendent fondly. "Joshua gave her to me on my ninth birthday."

Kaoru's eyebrows furrowed.

"Umm… What's a Bast?"

Julie chuckled then replied, "Bast, or on occasion Bastet, is the Ancient Egyptian goddess of cats. She was actually quite widely worshipped way back in the day… Y'know three thousand or so years ago, round about?

Kaoru was, once again, mystified. He had never been a big fan of history or ancient civilisations, but the way she spoke of it, softly, almost reverently, so unlike his history teacher's harsh, droning tone… She made it sound like the most fascinating thing he had ever heard.

He realized he had been laying there silently for rather a long while, so he quickly forced out, "How about that one?" and pointed to the strange looking, pointed R hanging next to the newly dubbed Bast.

Julie fingered the charm, eyes distant, unfocused, a slight smile on her face.

"This is Robin's symbol… He's my absolute favourite superhero, ever. Even though most people only consider him the sidekick of the 'all powerful' Batman, if they've heard of him at all. Anyways, my two pretty much best friends in the world Kristen and Peter bought it for me on my thirteenth birthday. Kristen's almost as big a fan as I am, and Peter… well, he just didn't know what else to get. They both covered half of the total cost."

Kaoru was still stuck on the superhero part. What sort of amazing powers would this guy have for her to like him even more than those Green Lantern people she had spoken of earlier?

He decided that this question needed to be asked before she moved on again.

"What are his powers?" His voice sounded overly eager even to his own ears, and Kaoru inwardly cringed at bit at the sound of it.

"Nothing. Robin has absolutely no powers. All he has to help him in his crusade against evil are phenomenal detective abilities, and acrobatic skills."

Kaoru gazed at her, confusion clearly visible in his expression.

"Then… Why do you like him so much?"

She laughed, but there was no humour in it.

"Because he has no powers. He's no more than a boy of fifteen or sixteen with no super natural abilities to speak of. He isn't bullet-proof super fast. He can't summon a wall to protect himself or fade from sight. He could die just as easily as any other person in the entire world, yet he still goes out there and fights for the greater good. That's why Robin is my favourite superhero."

She spoke with a degree of conviction and passion that Kaoru had never heard from her before. It made him see, not for the first time, that there was so much more to this girl than met the eye, that was for certain.

She shook herself out of her Robin-induced haze and grabbed hold of the next charm, a silver rose.

"This was a gift from my Uncle Jim on my ninth birthday, before he died."

"How did he die?"

"He had leukemia, and the chemo treatment totally killed his immunes system. He got shingles, and he just… never got better."

"Oh."

Why was it that no matter what he said, he felt guilty for drudging up painful memories?

"What about the snowflake?" Kaoru asked, hoping to take both of their minds off of her dead uncle.

"This one? It was a gift from my cousin David. He was in the army, and the first time he came home from… I don't even remember where, I was only six. But, it was the first snowfall of the year, and I dragged him out tobogganing, I was so excited to see him." She sighed. "He gave to me before he left on his last tour to Iraq when I was eleven, and… he never came home; MIA."

Kaoru had a sinking feeling in his stomach, but felt the need to ask anyways.

"MIA? What does that mean?"

"Missing In Action. MIA. They never found his body, so we have no idea if he's dead or alive, though the former is more likely."

"That's terrible! I'm so sorry!"

"It's no big deal. He knew the risks going into it."

"Why then? Why did he join?"

"It's kind of expected. My family has been involved in the military in some way, shape or form for seven generations. Either that or the police."

"Really?"

"Yep. Sir Samuel Steele, my great-grandmother's great-uncle, was one of the founders of the RCMP." At Kaoru's look of confusion, she added, "The Royal Canadian Mounted Police."

Kaoru took a moment to process this information. She seemed to sense this and allowed him to silently go over things in his head before continuing on to the next charm, a heart shaped opal inlayed in gold.

"From my grandfather. I've had it for as long as I can remember. I think it used to have a chain of it's own, but I've long since lost it." That was all that she said before launching into a brief description of the dolphin charm.

"From my mother. It used to be a necklace, but the chain snapped, so I put the charm on here."

"Why'd she buy it for you?" Kaoru asked curiously.

"Because I really like dolphins."

She had reached the second to last charm; a pair of golden ballet slippers.

"My dad bought these for me after my first ever dance recital. They were earrings, but… whatever."

Her eyes held that faraway look again. With a bitter smile she said, "They're probably my favourite girt he's ever given me."

Kaoru decided it would be unwise to broach the subject, no matter how he may have wanted to ask why. Instead he asked, "What about that one?"

This was in reference to the only remaining charm; the silver oval engraved with the letters CAF.

She hesitated slightly before she replied.

"CAF stands for Canadian Armed Forces."

Well, why do you wear it then?"

"What do you mean?"

"You've had a reason for wearing all of the others, therefore you must have one for this as well. So, what is it? Why do you wear it?"

She bit her lip and looked indecisive for a minute. Then she leaned over and pecked him on the lips, cheeks on fire but eyes solemn. And Kaoru understood. He didn't broach the subject.

Yet later on, as she called off the game for the night pleading exhaustion, Kaoru couldn't help but wonder exactly what Julie was hiding behind those guarded blue eyes…

**PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING AUTHORS NOTE! IT IS VERY IMPORTANT. THANK YOU!**

**Okay, so this note is here to clear up some confusion that might result, especially from this chapter. **

**As you may recall, the character of Julie is based off of myself. Well, I want people to be able to distinguish me from my character, so I'm going to specify what aspects of Julie are true also to myself, and which are purely fiction. So, here we go.**

** the random facts when Kaoru is summing up the game are true.**

**2. I don't actually have a twin. I do have a brother, but his name is Josiah, not Joshua, and he's only nine**

**3. My family has been involved in the military, the navy, and the police, but it is not something that is expected of anyone.**

**4. I really did have an Uncle Jim who died of Leukemia**

**5. I do have a relative named David. He's my moms cousin, and he is currently teaching English in Japan and practicing martial arts. He has never been involved in the military to my knowledge. He was a stunt man in "The Bride of Chuckie", though.**

**6. I don't own a charm necklace, nor do I know any Native American people. I live in the city, so there is no Reserve near my house.**

**7. My favorite superhero is Robin, for the reasons stated.**

**8. I don't have alot of scars, like Julie does in the start**

**9. I do have an aunt Jamie. She's my mom's half-brother's wife.**

**10. I've never played strip anything before in my life...**

**11. My best friends names really are Kristen and Peter.**

**12. My last name isn't Rutherford-Hopkins, except for on Facebook. My friend Matt came up with it in math class last year.**

**13. My first name is Julie**

**14. I don't speak a bunch languages. I'm fluent in English and French, can get by in Spanish, and know bits of Gaelic and Japanese.**

**15. My favorite mangas really are Fruits Basket and Black Butler. Ouran is on there too, but I couldn't very well put it, as this is an Ouran story.**

**16. Julie isn't good with words, which is untrue of me, because I am**

**17. I really am a large nerd, and didn't have to do any research for that rant about Green Lanterns.**

**18. I don't have any confidentially information about myself. I could tell anyone anything about myself if I wanted to**

**19. I really am related to Sir Samuel Steele, and he really was one of the founders of the RCMP**

**20. I don't have a friend named Scott, and I don't even know someone named Arielle.**

**21. Julie's apperance is pretty much the same as my own, save for the fact that I have glasses and she doesn't.**

**22. My grandfather really is dead.**

**I think that's all. I'll post lists of similarities and differences whenever new things are learned about Julie, so that there the difference between author and character remain clear. Thanks if you weren't intimidated by the length of this thing. Next chapter is written, so expect it up soon.**

**~JM~**


	8. Chapter 7

**Heh. I'm back. Keeping it short and sweet this time. Well... Not really sweet. This is kinda a filler chapter, because it was the last few pages of my notebook, and I didn't want to start a new notebook in the middle of a chapter, so this was born. Don't really like it that much, but meh. Whatever. Enjoy anyways! :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ouran High School Host Club, or any relating media. They belong to their creator alone.**

**Chapter Seven**

The next morning, Kaoru awoke to the sound of the bolt sliding open on the door of their prison-cell-like room.

"What could they possibly want now?" he muttered aloud as he attempted to sit up. When he found that he could not, his hazy brain began to take in the situation.

Julie was lying next to him, head resting lightly on his chest with her body curled in towards him. It was such a vulnerable position to be exposed by such a powerful, strong girl, and Kaoru's fingers itched to draw it, so he could preserve this moment for the rest of time.

Just then, the door's bolt gave a loud clank. Julie's eyes shot open, and the magic of the moment was broken.

"What's going on? What's happening?"

"I'm not sure." he replied.

"Well, it's only been a few hours since we fell asleep, and lunch hasn't been delivered yet, so that means it's not shower," she murmured, more to herself than to him, "and they aren't possibly going to take us another appointment," she spat the word out bitterly, "so soon after the last one. Our wounds have barely begun to heal!"

Before she could continue her speculations, the door swung open to reveal two men.

One Kaoru easily identified as doctor James Peterson. He looked rather irritated, though Kaoru wasn't sure why, but with a single glance at the man next to him, Kaoru felt the pieces begin to fall into place.

He was young, in his mid-twenties, and looked to be fairly enthusiastic… about just about everything. Kaoru's first thought on him was 'Oh my God, another Tamaki-sempai…' It was true in mannerism, but certainly not in appearance. This man had black hair coming to about his shoulders. It was rather shiny, and Kaoru wondered whether this was because of grease or hair product. His skin was pale and, in Kaoru's expert opinion, he was in desperate need of a shave, but his eyes were something else altogether. They were a pale silvery grey that seemed to look right into your soul. Kaoru shivered involuntarily as the man looked him over. Julie didn't even flinch.

The newcomer looked them over for a minute before exclaiming, "Oh, I like these one's a lot! Can I have them too, please?"

"No, William, you may not. We agreed on three couples. I have already generously expanded this offer to four, and I will not be doing it again."

"But… but… I like these two better than any of the other's I've seen yet!"

"Then it looks like you have some decision making to do, now doesn't it?"

William huffed. "Fine."

"Very good. I'll dispatch some guards to fetch the others. You two, come with me."

Julie spoke for the first time since the exchange had begun.

"With all due respect sir, I'm not sure if Kaoru can move. Could we possibly hold… whatever it is we're doing in here?"

"What are you doing?" Kaoru hissed.

"Just trust me. Please just trust me." she spat back.

"What are you two talking about?" Dr. Peterson demanded.

"He doesn't want any special treatment. I told him to stop being so stupid."

"What is going on?" William interjected, clearly confused, "Why isn't that boy moving?"

"His name is Kaoru," Julie said, "and he isn't moving because we had our first, ah… appointment… yesterday. You can ask the good doctor what I'm talking about if you aren't already aware of what I'm talking about; I'm in no mood to explain it right now."

James' eyes narrowed dangerously. "You watch your mouth, young lady."

Looking suitably chastised, Julie murmured, "Sorry, sir."

She looked down at Kaoru, smirking slightly and winking, face hidden behind her longish bangs. Reclining back on her elbow, she looked at him with a more neutral expression now that her face was once again visible to the world. Her eyes widened slightly.

"What did you do?" she shrieked in Japanese, "I told you not to move!"

"I… didn't." Kaoru replied, rather bewildered by her reaction. Looking down at his own chest, he was startled to see a growing red stain, contrasting with the pure white of his bandages.

"Is there a problem, Miss Rutherford-Hopkins?" the doctor asked, voice icy.

"No, nothing. I just need to change Kaoru's bandages." She got up slowly, her movements still very careful, and walked over to where the first aid kit sat on a metal desk-dresser-thing in the corner.

William spoke up again. "I don't understand… Why is this Kaoru unable to move due to his injuries, yet you seem perfectly fine? You did receive the same treatment, right?"

"Yes. What of it?"

"Well then, how are you able to walk when he is in too much pain to even move?"

Julie looked at William with those unfathomable blue eyes.

"Because this isn't the first time that something like this has happened to me." she replied softly, turned and continued digging through the first aid kit.

She pulled out the gauze, completely unfazed by the heavy stares that William and the doctor were shooting at her. She walked over to Kaoru and sat down next to him.

"You're going to need to sit up so that I can change the bandages, okay?"

Kaoru nodded, and she continued, "I'll help you, if that's alright."

At his second nod, she carefully manoeuvred her arm under his back and draped her own arm over her shoulders, grabbing his wrist with her other hand to keep it from falling. Slowly, she shifted her body, moving his own in the process.

It hurt. It hurt like hell. Kaoru hadn't ever been in this much pain before in his life, not even when he had broken his arm falling out of a tree when he was seven. It took the breath right out of him, and he was very glad for Julie's grip on his arm, as his body would have fallen back down otherwise.

Through the haze of pain, Kaoru dimly registered the feel of the bandages unwrapping, and the sting of cool air hitting his wounds. He heard Julie curse softly, and then gasped in pain as some sort of cold liquid burned the lacerations criss-crossing his skin.

She rewrapped his torso with the remainder of the gauze from the roll she had used the night before.

"We're going to need more gauze."

She threw the words backwards over her shoulder at Dr. Peterson. He nodded an affirmative to show that he had heard her, continuing to talk into the walkie-talkie he was holding in his hand. After another couple moments of quiet conversation as Julie applied medical tape to Kaoru's bandages, James put the handheld device away and turned to the two prisoners.

"The others will be here for the meeting shortly." He turned his attention to William. "I expect you to have successfully eliminated one of the groups by the end of my work day at 5:30. It is currently…" he paused for a moment to look at his watch, "1:52. I will be seeing you shortly." he finished looking again at the two teens.

The doctor walked out, closely followed by William, leaving Julie and Kaoru alone again.

"What are they going to do to us this time?" Kaoru asked, dreading the answer, but needing to know it all the same.

Julie pushed herself up onto the bed next to him, and grabbed his hand, holding it with a gentle but insistent pressure.

"I don't know." she said, and Kaoru looked at her in surprise. The true meaning of those three little words only seemed to be occurring to her now, and her eyes widened in shock and horror.

"I don't know. I don't know, Kaoru… I don't know!" She was hysterical, her eyes wild, looking to be on the verge of a full blown panic attack.

"Hey, hey, it's okay, it's okay!" he soothed, somehow forcing his uncooperative arm up to rest on firmly on her slender shoulder. "We'll be fine. We'll make it through this together, okay?"

She nodded and took a shuddering breath, trying desperately to compose herself, to get control of her emotions.

"I'm sorry." she said quietly.

"What for?" Kaoru asked, confused.

"I'm supposed to be in control at all times, and I nearly lost it right then. I should have been stronger; you're the one that's injured, not me. I have to be strong, for your sake."

"No, you don't."

"Yes, I do, Kaoru!" she shouted, "I have to be strong. I have to keep in control of my emotions and behave in a mature, rational manner at all times. I cannot allow my feelings to cloud my judgement or effect the decisions I make, and I must always put other's well being before my own. I have to stay strong. Always."

Kaoru wasn't exactly sure what had provoked this outburst, but he knew that he had hit a nerve. He felt the need to at least attempt to make her feel better, to remedy this, but he also knew that he had to tread carefully, lest he cause her to blow up again.

"Julie…" he began cautiously, "you don't have to be strong all the time, you'll break if you try. It's okay to lose control sometimes, it's okay to cry. You seem determined to always help other people, but maybe you could let someone help you sometimes.

She looked at him, infinite sadness visible for a brief moment in the never ending depths of her blue eyes, before the unreadable mask returned.

"That is unacceptable."

"What?"

"It's unacceptable to allow you to help me. No matter how much I may want it, I can't. I just can't."

"Why not?" he asked, determined to press the issue.

"Because accepting your help is showing weakness, and that is something that I have been told is inappropriate for most of my life."

Kaoru stared at her with wide eyes. What sort of household had she grown up in, that allowing someone to help you was considered a weakness?

Her voice startled Kaoru from his thoughts.

"Since the only person I ever really needed was Joshua, I didn't have much of a problem with this. But now, he's gone, and I have no idea what to do… And I want to let you help me, Kaoru, I really do, but- I just-" she broke off, for a moment, gathered her thoughts, then began to speak once more.

"It's very hard to push aside something that's been forced upon you since the time that you were old enough to speak. I will let you help me… It'll just take some time, okay?"

Kaoru nodded and didn't push the conversation any further.

They waited, hands clasped, for whatever fate's cruel hand decided to bring upon then next.

**I still need a BETA reader, just saying... Any suggestions?**

**Review, please! 3 :)**


	9. Chapter 8

**I'm so sorry this took so long! But, we had no internet for like a week, and I couldn't exactly post without internet, could I?**

**On a somewhat related note, I finally found a BETA reader. Many thanks to LilMissCaprice for agreeing to do this for me.**

**On a completely unrelated note, I'm completely obssessed with the Scottish band Silly Wizard right now. Does anyone know where Ican find their records? I can't find them anywhere!**

**anyways, you're not here to hear me rant, you want to read the story! So, here his chapter eight!**

**Standard disclaimer applies.**

**Chapter Eight**

A couple of short minutes were spent in silence before the door swung open several times in rapid succession, ushering in two people, a boy and a girl each time. Two armed guards, presumably escorting them, were seen briefly through the door, but they didn't enter the room.

Kaoru looked each new person to enter over thoroughly, trying to spot a common trait or similarity amongst them all, something to link them together, to tell him why they were all stuck in here so he could maybe at least attempt to discern what was going to happen to them.

There were four couples (for lack of a better word), ranging in age from five or so to mid-twenties. Kaoru noted that not everyone had been paired with someone as close to their age as he and Julie were. There was an older pair, a couple more teens close in age to Julie and Kaoru, two kids who couldn't have been more than eight years old, and a young girl with a boy who looked to be about thirteen.

He moved on to individuals, but there was no discernable pattern there either.

The littlest girl looked to be about five. Her hair was cut in neat lines that angled downwards toward her jaw line, and it was pitch black. Her face was pale and appeared to be tear streaked. Her roommate, the boy of about thirteen, held her in his arms. He was very thin, and Kaoru didn't think he could do very much if faced with a fight.

He was a bit of an oddity; his hair was sandy brown and spiky, and his features were sharp, pointed. His entire body was angular, his ears appeared slightly pointed, and his eyes were hazel, flecked with green and gold. He reminded Kaoru of an elf, like the ones in that English movie that had been on late one night when he hadn't been able to sleep. "Lord of the Rings", or something such.

Tow much smaller children sat with one another on the floor in the corner, huddled up in the foetal position. Kaoru couldn't see much of their faces, as their knees were drawn up to their chins, but they looked to be about seven or eight years old. The girl of the pair had long, golden brown hair, and the boy's was a dark chestnut brown. This was all that Kaoru could see of them from his vantage point.

The next pair seemed to be about the same age as Kaoru and Julie. That was where the similarities ended though- this new pair couldn't have been more different than the two of them if they had tried.

The boy looked more traditionally Japanese than Kaoru ever would, but when he turned to speak to the girl, he had an English accent. His hair was pitch black, his eyes dark brown. He was muscular, but not excessively so. Even so, it was so much more powerful than Kaoru's slender frame.

The only thing that this other girl and Julie shared was their eye colour; a deep blue that looked to be almost bottomless.

This girl was soft curves while Julie was sharp angles. This girl had soft, golden blonde hair with a slight bounced wave to it. Julie's hair was short and rather wild, though it was long and ramrod straight in the picture inside the locket. The biggest difference was, however, the way they held themselves.

This girl held herself meekly, without much confidence; it made her look fragile, weak, easily broken. Julie, however, held herself confidently- she was strong and would not back down from a challenge.

There was only one pair older than them, who looked to be in their early twenties. The girl's hair was auburn and fell to the centre of her back in cascading waves. She seemed sure of herself, not quite so confident as Julie, but not timid like the other teen either. She looked like she could take care of herself.

The boy with her seemed… aloof. His hair was such a dark brown that it looked almost black, his ice blue eyes scanning the room with an air of detached interest. He also looked like he could take care of himself, yet there was a certain harshness in his eyes that made Kaoru sure that if it mean saving himself, he would sacrifice most anything.

Kaoru had wanted to further observe everyone, see how they interacted with one another, but at that moment Doctor Peterson and William returned. William was bouncing with some sort of perverted excitement, while the doctor seemed to be mildly annoyed.

The whispering that had been going on between a couple of the pairs ceased abruptly when James walked in; he smiled rather nastily at this and began to speak.

"Welcome," he began. "I'm sure you are all wondering why exactly you are here today."

Julie muttered in Kaoru's ear, sarcasm dripping from her voice, "No, really? I thought we were here to have tea and scones."

Kaoru muffled his giggle in a groan of pain.

The doctor had waited for her to stop talking before he continued to speak.

"I will get around to explaining exactly that in a couple of minutes. However, I believe some background information may be helpful to you before begin."

He paused again, and Julie took this as her cue to "translate".

"He's talking as if the three little ones aren't even there! How are they supposed to understand eloquent language like that?"

"What does eloquent mean?"

She gave him a look, and he shrugged his shoulders and smiled in response. Her expression softened.

"Are you quite done, Miss Rutherford-Hopkins?" the doctor asked impatiently, effectively ruining the moment. Julie's face darkened slightly in a blush as she replied, "Yes, sir." William's eyes were shining as he stared at them, a giddy smile on his face.

"I do not own the facility we are currently residing in. it belongs to my younger brother, Harold. He has lent it to me from the goodness of his heart." You could almost feel the sarcasm in his voice once he reached the end of his sentence.

"Unfortunately, nothing comes for free, even when it comes to your very own family."

"This," he pointed at William, "is Harold's only son, William. He has some rather… interesting fantasies that he would like to see come to life. My brother has insisted that I allow him to borrow some of you, my patients, for this purpose."

The entire time he was speaking, the doctor would stop every couple of sentences, then Julie would mutter nonsense into Kaoru's ear. It was very difficult to focus on the severity of the situation at hand with her murmuring such strange things in his ear. Kaoru's personal favourite was, "Last week, my pet toilet paper ingested some deodorant. It made her very fuchsia. Eggnog! Look, a flying turtle on a stick…"

The doctor seemed to have finished his speech, so Julie quickly spouted out one last sentence; "The purple elephants are cuddling with some neon green mustard." She looked up and nodded the doctor, who then began to speak again.

"Now William has to make a decision; two of you, one pair, will have to be eliminated from this group. I will allow him some time to do what he pleases with you now, to aid in the decision making process. If you'll excuse me, I have an appointment. Good-day."

He walked out and they all simultaneously turned to look at William, who gave them a bright smile.

"Okay! Everybody, I'm William, but you can call me Will. How about we all go around the room and say something about ourselves!"

Nobody said a word. Will took this as a go-ahead, and announced, sounding much happier than any normal person should have been, "Okay! I'll go first!"

"My name is William Peterson, I'm 27 years old, and I'm an only child. My favourite colour is green."

He pointed to the oldest boy. "You next."

The boy looked around, then lazily replied, "My name is Jeremiah Stevenson, and I'm a fraternal twin from North Carolina. I'm 22 years old, and I'm a psychology major in university."

The older girl spoke next. "Hello," she said in a lovely, lilting voice, "my name is Mairie, spelt M-A-I-R-I-E, and I'm an identical twin from Dublin, Ireland. I'm twenty-one, and I enjoy taking walks in the mountains near my home in my spare time."

Silence fell for a moment, then Will pointed to the small boy who was huddled up in the corner. "Your turn, boy. Tell us about yourself."

The boy began to cry softly. For a moment everybody just stood there, then Julie made a noise of exasperation, rose from her place and walked over to him. She crouched down before him and said, "Do you speak English honey?"

The boy nodded and looked up, murky hazel eyes still filled with tears.

"Okay," Julie continued, "well, how about you tell us your name to start."

"Mark Crawford."

"Wonderful. Okay, Mark. Are you an identical or fraternal twin?"

"Identical."

"Lovely. How about you tell us where you're from now, sweetheart."

"Alabama."

"Alright, good. You're doing really great Mark. Now, how old are you?"

"Eight and three quarters."

"Splendid. Last question, okay? What is your favourite T.V. show?"

"Bakugan Battle Brawlers: New Vestroia."

"That is a pretty cool show," Julie said, smiling, "I sometimes watch it with my little cousin, Marshall. You did an awesome job though Mark."

She patted him on the head and stood to leave. He grabbed her leg and said, "Please don't leave. You're nice. Everyone else here is mean to me. They hurt me sometimes. But you're different. You're nice. So please… don't leave me."

Julie sighed and smiled gently, then reached out her hand towards the small child.

"Come on then."

Mark hesitantly took her hand, and together they walked back to the bed. She settled in next to Kaoru, crossing her legs, leaning back on her hands, and Mark took a seat on her lap.

The little girl who had been sitting on the floor next to Mark looked like she, too, was going to burst into tears. Julie noticed this after a couple of moments, and said, "You can come and sit with us as well, if you like."

The girl immediately bolted over to the bedside and tackled Kaoru, who gasped as a sharp jolt of white-hot pain burned through his torso.

"Sweetheart," Julie said to the girl, shaking her shoulder, "sweetheart, you need to get off of Kaoru now. He's in quite a lot of pain at the moment. Come, you can sit here with Mark and I."

The young girl clambered off of Kaoru and leaped over to Julie, rolling up from where she had landed on the bed, as Mark shifted over to sit on only Julie's left leg. The girl then plopped down on the now unoccupied side of Julie's lap. The pain in Kaoru's chest began to ease away slowly, but didn't leave completely.

Will turned to the girl after watching the proceedings with an avid interest.

"It is your turn now. Please, tell us about yourself."

The girl didn't say anything, but leaned back towards Julie, slight fear on her face.

"Come on, hon," Julie said, "tell us about you."

She looked puzzled. "What do you want me to say?"

Julie looked at Will, who nodded, before she continued, "Well, let's start with your name."

"Okay! I'm Leanna Miller." She turned to Julie again. "What next?"

"Now tell us how old you are."

"I'm seven and one half years old. What should I say now?" she asked Julie once again.

"Where are you from?"

"Not sure. We've lived in South Africa for as long as I can remember, but daddy says him and mommy came there from a place called Newcastle."

"That's interesting, hon. Now, are you an identical or fraternal twin?

"Fraternal! Is that all?"

"One last question and then that's it; what is your very favourite food?"

"Mangoes! They're yummy!"

"Okay. Good job, Leanna. You're finished now."

Will turned to look at the English boy. He seemed to understand this silent cue, as he began to speak an instant later.

"Hello everyone. My name is Daniel Wright. I'm an identical twin from Manchester, England. I'm sixteen years old, and something interesting about me is that I'm mixed- my mom was Chinese, my dad's English."

'That explains his appearance,' Kaoru thought to himself.

It was now the turn of the timid-looking girl next to him. "Hi there," she started, speaking haltingly in heavily accented English, "I am Ka-ther-rine Finn. Fra-ter-nal twin from Sweden. I have fifteen years, and I enjoy trad-ition-al dan-cing."

The rooms attention was now focused upon the only pair with a noticeable age difference between them.

The boy whispered something into the ear of the little girl, who then raised a quiet, shaking, accented voice, "I'm Cecilia Jacobs. I am five and one quarter. I live in Australia, and me and my sister are identical. I like Harry Potter."

She looked at them all for a moment with wide eyes, then buried her face in the boy's chest.

He laughed softly and stroked her hair as he introduced himself.

"My name's Seamus O'Connolly, and I'm from Glasgow, Scotland. My sister and I are fraternal; like night and day my mother says. I am thirteen years old, and I'm a fairly decent archer."

It was Julie's turn to speak now, and she did so with the quiet confidence that seemed to pervade her movement.

"Hello everybody. I'm Julie Rutherford-Hopkins, and I'm Canadian, from Ontario. I'm just barely sixteen and I'm a fraternal twin; my brother's name is Joshua. One fact about me is that I can speak twenty-two languages fluently, and another twenty-one half-decently."

"Twenty-two languages?" Jeremiah asked, "That's not possible!"

Julie smirked. "Yes it is. Clearly."

His eyes narrowed.

"Prove it."

She cocked her head. "How?"

"Name them, to start. All of them."

Julie gave an evil sort of grin and then said, "Okay. You asked for it."

One deep breath later and she was off.

"I can fluently speak English, French, Spanish, Gaelic, several Native American dialects, Portuguese, Mandarin, Russian, German, Polish, Swedish, Creole, Greek, Italian, a tiny bit of Latin, mostly I just read it, Swahili, Arabic, sign language, both American and otherwise, Dutch, Romanian, Czech, and, as I have already demonstrated, Japanese. I am competent in Islamic, Hawaiian, Korean, Cantonese, Turkish, Hungarian, Finnish, Ukrainian, Tibetan, Bulgarian, Danish, Hindi, Welsh, Indonesian, Macedonian, Vietnamese, Norwegian, Persian, Sanskrit, Thai and Hebrew."

There was a stunned silence before William said, "Okay! Let's move on to the last person!"

"Pretend I'm helping you, okay?" Julie said to Kaoru, and he nodded.

"Hello," he said, trying to sound unconfident, "I am Kaoru Hitachiin. I am from Japan. I am age…"

Here he paused and turned to Julie, muttering, "Forgot the word," all a part of the act. She promptly replied, "Sixteen," in English.

He dutifully recited "I am age sixteen. My twin is Hikaru. We are…" he pretended to search for the word, "identical. I enjoy playing the video games."

"Good job." Julie whispered to him, reverting to Japanese. Leanna and Mark looked at her in awe.

"You can really speak all those languages?" Leanna asked shyly.

"Yes, I can." she replied, smiling.

"Can you show us?" Mark inquired eagerly. 'This kid sure bounces back quickly…' Kaoru thought.

"Umm… Sure."

Julie looked a tad uncomfortable being put on the spot like this, as all eyes in the room were now fixed on her. She thought for a moment, then began to speak.

"I can speak English. Je peux parler en Français."

Kaoru noticed that while Julie spoke, William was examining them all with a calculating look on his face. That look, mixed with those disturbing silver eyes, made Kaoru shudder internally.

Julie's hands were now moving in a series of shapes.

Glancing back at William, Kaoru deduced that he must have come to some sort of conclusion, as the calculating look had changed to one of slightly perverted satisfaction.

"Yo hablo Español."

The words had barely left her mouth, leaving the other occupants of the room in a stunned silence, when Doctor Peterson walked back in.

"Have you come to a decision?" he asked William sharply.

"Yes. After careful consideration, I have made my choice. It was very difficult, but I have decided to cut Daniel and Katherine from the group."

James nodded. "Very well. The two of you may go."

The doors opened and the two guards who had escorted them in appeared. Daniel and Katherine walked over to them and left the room. The door closed.

The doctor spoke again. "You may all return to your rooms now. William will come to brief you all one, or two as it may be, at a time and explain what it is that he would like for you to do."

James turned to the door. "Good day to you all."

William waited by the doorway while each pair left for their rooms, along with their guards, who had been waiting outside the doors all along, before departing himself, leaving Julie and Kaoru in horrified anticipation once again.

The atmosphere was very tense. Julie had a dark, brooding cast to her eyes, and it was killing Kaoru. In an attempt to lighten both the air and her mood, he said, "Everything always happens to us, doesn't it?"

Julie gave him a bitter half-smile, and a glance from the corner of her eyes.

"Yes, I suppose it does."

**Note That is Really Important:**** I have a major writers block on this story, so it probably won't be updated for a while. Sorry. But, I am planning a Marauders-era Potter story, so look for it, should be up in the next couple days...**

**o0O0o**

**K so if anyone lives in any of the countries mentionned, two things; You can tell me about any inconsistencies, and I'm sorry if anything seemed stereotyped, I didn't mean any offence. Thank you.**

**Oh, I got some anonymous reviews last chapter, so I'm gonna reply to them here, kay? You don't need to read this unless you are one of the people who left one. Or you just enjoy reading peoples review responces...**

**Infinite Sorrow: Well, that's why I need a BETA, right? I write at two in the morning oftentimes, so as long as the story makes sense, I don't care about spelling. Also, I am Canadian, so I spell words like "colour" and "favourite" with an extra "U" in them. Plus, you can always just make your own hotmail account to get fanfiction... That's what I did. Mostly because I was tierd of my dad reading my persoal e-mails. Not that you have to, it's just an option. If you aren't comfortable with it, you don't have to. Anyways, I'm glad you're enjoying it!**

**Aaannniiimmmeee Anime: Hmm... Only one? :( Well, if I had to choose, I suppose Mori from Ouran. He seems like a good listener and not overprotective, but he'll always be there for you. And I'm a quiet person by nature, so I don't think I could deal with someone loud like Tamaki or the twins. Or, unfortunatly, Kyo... I was really torn between Mori and Hatori in Fruits Basket actually, but I decided my dear Haa-san was too old for me, so Mori it is :) However, I am already married to Sirius Black from Harry Potter, so this is all null and void. **

**Shows to watch... I loved Clannad, and it's similar in type to Furuba and Ouran, so that one is good. I also love Black Butler, but it's more on the supernatural side, and it's more violent and deals with slightly more mature subject matter, so I dunno if you'll like that one...**


	10. Chapter 9

**Gah, I'm sorry I've been away for so long... I had writers block and exams and my laptop was lost and my notebook fell under the bed and I'm gonna stop rambling now and get on with the story. I have one more chapter written, but probably won't post much after that for a while, because I'm obssessing over The Chronicles of Narnia lately... Sorry in advance for that...**

**A shout out as always to my BETA reader Lil_Miss_Caprice who puts up with me sending her large amounts of documents at outrageous hours and expecting them back within an unrsonable timeframe...**

**Disclaimer: ****I do not own Ouran High School Host Club or the hand clapping game, Sevens, thaat is played at the beginning of this chapter.**

**Chapter Nine**

They waited with a moderate amount of patience for William to return. It wasn't boring really, but Kaoru really wanted to know what was in store for them this time.

It was about an hour and a half before his return, and during this time, Julie taught Kaoru a game which she called "sevens". It was a clapping game that involved making rhythms that added up to seven beats.

She kept muttering about his deprived childhood as she taught him to play, and Kaoru thought he should probably have been offended by this, but he really couldn't have been, even if he had wanted to, because she was just so… likable.

William was greeted with a rather interesting sight when he finally returned to their room; the two of them were seated on the bed, with random objects on their laps (the first aid kit, and their tray from dinner) ready to begin tapping.

Blatantly ignoring William's presence in the doorway, Julie said, "Let's try this one last time, shall we?"

Kaoru blinked. "Umm… William is back though."

"Just ignore him for now and focus on this. We'll acknowledge him once we finish."

Kaoru nodded, and tried his very best to ignore the gaze of those slivery-grey eyes and focus solely on the game.

He closed his eyes, which seemed to help a bit.

"Ready." he said.

Kaoru heard a muffled giggle, which he assumed was Julie, then her voice said, "One… Two… Three…"

"**GO!**"

He let himself get lost in the rhythm.

_BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM_

_ BAM, CLAP, BAM, CLAP, BAM, CLAP, BAM_

_ BAM, CLAP, SNAP, BAM, CLAP, SNAP, BAM_

_ BAM, CRISS-CROSS, BAM, CLAP, SNAP, CLAP, BAM_

_ TAP, HIT, TAP, HIT, TAP, HIT, TAP_

_ TAP, FIST, TAP, FIST, TAP, FIST, TAP_

_ BAM, FLIP, BAM, FLIP, BAM, DOUBLE FLIP, BAM_

Kaoru stopped, as this was all that she had been able to teach him in the amount of time that they had had. Julie kept going for minute, rhythms that Kaoru had yet to learn or master coming from her hands.

She finished by hitting her elbow then her forearm off the tray.

"Hello, William," she said, without turning her head.

"Hello," he replied, sounding very, very happy about something. He walked into the room, and sat down on the far corner of the bed. Kaoru shifted slightly closer to Julie, still in quite a lot of pain.

"I'm sure you two are wondering what it is that I would like for you to do."

"I wonder where on earth he got that notion…" Julie muttered to Kaoru, who once again stifle his laughter, this time in a cough.

William continued to speak, oblivious to the teenagers' amusement. Or perhaps he was just ignoring them…

"So, as you have probably already guessed, I'm here to tell you what you are to do for me."

"What do you mean by that?" Julie asked, playing dumb.

"Well, I have some… scenarios… and stories in my head that I would like to see played out by real people."

William's eyes seemed to shine in a rather disturbing manner, and Kaoru felt goosebumps erupting all over his arms. That piercing gaze unnerved him more than almost anything that he had seen before in his entire life.

"What sort of scenarios?" Julie continued to fake ignorance.

William looked slightly uncomfortable, perhaps because he had to say and explain what he thought would have been inferred automatically aloud.

He faltered for a moment before managing to choke out, "Umm… Well… That is to say… Sexual ones."

Julie blinked.

"Oh. Okay." She seemed totally unfazed by this, and William relaxed slightly.

"So…" Julie broke the silence, "You gonna tell us what we're supposed to do?"

William's face went from slightly awkward to excited in the span of two seconds.

"You two are going to be what I like to call the "Lustful Insecurities" pair. You, Miss Julie are very insecure in yourself, and so you are throwing yourself at Mr. Kaoru here. You are willing to do anything he wants you to. He cares for you very much, and doesn't want to take advantage of you, but his deep-set desires and animalistic instincts get the better of him on occasion."

It was Kaoru's turn to blink. That was… slightly unexpected.

Julie's Japanese inquiry abruptly snapped Kaoru out of his shocked stupor.

"Think you can handle it?"

"Yeah, Probably… I mean, I pretend to be in love with my twin brother for Host Club, so this shouldn't be too bad… At least you're a girl…"

Kaoru was trying to be optimistic. And failing. Epically. They both knew it, too.

"Well, I suppose we'll just have to make the best of it." Julie replied after a minute of silence.

Switching languages so quickly that it made Kaoru's head spin, she continued, now addressing William, "Kaoru would like to know if this is to be improvised or scripted."

"Well I do have a script, but you can put your own take on the lines if you want to. Just so long as the content remains basically the same I'll be happy."

Julie gave a sharp nod, and turned her attention back onto Kaoru once again.

"Are you sure you'll be okay to do this?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'll be fine." he replied, also nodding his head. In truth, a ball of nervousness and unease had settled in his stomach, but he ignored it as best he could.

"Wonderful!" William exclaimed, clapping his hands. "I'll leave you for now, but I should be back sometime tomorrow with your first script. You'll then have three days or so to study it before your performance."

Julie nodded her head once more, and Kaoru realised that she was quite the natural-born leader. Authority suited her, and he shuddered to think of what sort of situation he would have been in right now, if it were not for her.

William headed out the door, smiling serenely for some unknown reason. He looked back at them one last time before the door snicked shut behind him, outrageously loud in the silence he had left in his wake.

Julie had her face in her hands. As Kaoru watched, she began to hum a little tune to herself, so quietly that he couldn't make out the words, if there even were any. She then sighed softly, looking as if all the sorrows of the world rested upon her shoulders, then straightening, face an emotionless mask.

"I have neglected my duties for too long," she began, "and it is high time that I resume them again."

Walking over to the bed, she pushed out the piece of the ceiling, and grabbed the edges of the hole.

"Where are you going?" Kaoru asked, alarmed.

"To get some answers."

"How?"

She smiled, the expression both wicked and mysterious all at once, and quirked an eyebrow.

"You'll see..."

Then she vaulted up through the hole and disappeared.

**Oh, and if anyone takes offence that I don't reply to reviews, I'm sorry. I didn't really have much time while I was still in school, but maybe now that I'm on summer break maybe I'll have time to do replies... Who knows? You'll only find out if you review! ^_^ (Not begging or anything...)**


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

Julie didn't come back that night. Kaoru waited for her for hours, but there was no sound, no indication of her return. He slipped into a restless sleep hours after her departure, dread and anxiety leaded in his stomach, still pondering her fate.

o0O0o

Very early the next morning, Kaoru awoke to screams.

He shot up in the bed, looking around wildly, heart pounding crazily in his chest. The sight that he saw shocked him to the core.

Julie had returned at some point in the night, and was now thrashing about on her makeshift cot of clothing and spare blankets. Her face was contorted in agony and there were tear tracks on her cheeks.

Kaoru, from his part, wasn't sure how to deal with it; he had no experience in things like this. He approached her cautiously, and finally took in the words she was screaming.

"No! Leave him alone! Please take me instead! Thomas! Thomas no!"

It continued like this for a long while, just repeating these words over and over in different variations.

Kaoru was still at a loss as to what to do here. Nothing like this had ever happened to him before.

It turned out that he didn't actually need to figure out what to do after all, because at that moment she sat up, with one final cry of "NO!", chest heaving and eyes wild.

Her breathing began to ease as she glanced around, the wild look receding from her eyes to be replaced by a mix of pain, guilt and sorrow.

Her hand crept to her chest, pulling the strong steel chain out and clutching the pendent tightly in her hand, eyes closed, breath still heaving slightly. A few stray tears drifted down her cheeks.

"Julie?" Kaoru asked cautiously, "Are you alright?"

Said girl stiffened and quickly wiped her eyes.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Her voice was curiously devoid of emotion.

Perhaps it was just from lack of sleep, but Kaoru felt sudden and rather inexplicable anger towards her for it.

"What's on that chain? he demanded, because frankly, they were in this together, and keeping secrets this large from one another was not going to help this relationship. They needed to work together, as a team, but they couldn't really do that when there was still so much that needed to be said? How was he supposed to trust her when she wouldn't let him in?

"That's none of your business," she snapped testily, obviously still shaken from her nightmare, whatever it had been about. Despite it all, Kaoru pressed on.

"I think it is actually. I want to know what you've been hiding from me. How am I supposed to trust you if you won't let me in?"

Julie glared at him, venom in her gaze. "Drop. It."

"No."

"I said DROP IT!" She had stood up by this point and looked about ready to take a swing at him. Her fists were clenched at her sides and she was practically shaking with anger. The silver chain glinted in the faint light of the bedside lamp that they left on at all times, drawing Kaoru's attention to the pendent that was now exposed for the world to see.

There were two rectangles with rounded edges, writing on both of them, shining silvery in the faint light. Kaoru was no expert, but he had seen American war movies.

Those were dog tags.

The method of identification used by the military.

"What are those?" Kaoru demanded, even though he already knew the answer, and dreaded it more than almost anything.

She looked down at her chest in confusion, which morphed into shock, then dismay.

"So you've seen them then." Her voice held a sort of resigned sadness, but seemed empty, lacking in any other emotion. She sighed.

"Guess there's no use in hiding them anymore."

Tugging the chain up over her head, she handed it to Kaoru without looking him in the eye.

He focused his attention upon observing the two pendants in more detail now that he could actually see them.

The chain was heavy and warm in his hand as Kaoru squinted at the tiny print, black on silver.

Julie Rutherford-Hopkins

Special Operations

4th Regiment, CAF

Kaoru flipped it over to see the CAF emblem shining back at him. He took the other tag in his hand and looked at the text written on its smooth surface.

100 376 824

Agent, Operation: Parvulus

"What's Operation: Parvulus?" Kaoru inquired, gaze still trained on the words. When no response was forthcoming, he looked up and was startled to see that Julie had vanished. The hole in the ceiling seemed to mock him in its infuriating inky blackness that he knew hid his roommate from him.

The darkness yielded nothing, however, no matter how long he stared at it.

And Kaoru was left standing alone in an empty room, holding the chain that bound a girl to her country in his hands.

o0O0o

She returned three hours later, calm, composed, in control, but the tell-tale eyes rimmed with red showed Kaoru at what price.

Holding out her hand, still not making eye contact, she silently asked for her tags back. He placed the chain in her small hands, and she pulled it over her head, tucking the pendants inside her shirt again.

Kaoru wondered why. Did she think that if she hid them he would forget? That the situation would just melt away?

Although, now that he had had some time to think about it, her being in the army certainly explained a couple of things. Like her ability to keep her head in every situation, and her fluency in so many languages. The way she moved so gracefully, her unusually large amounts of strength and the way she observed everything were also explained by this.

And the fact that she had remained silent all through that "experiment" could be credited to the counterintelligence training she had most probably gone through.

Julie was still standing there awkwardly, hands behind her back, head down, eyes focused on her feet, and Kaoru realised with a painful jolt in the region surrounding his heart that she was afraid. Afraid of how he was going to react. Afraid of him.

Deciding swiftly that they couldn't afford to go on like this, Kaoru stood from where he had been dozing on the bed, steeped forward and gently placed his hand under her chin, lifting it.

Her eyes remained downcast, and Kaoru felt a surge of anger that was almost immediately vanquished by guilt. He had done this to her. Him.

Drawing on all of his word skills from his time as a host, and making sure to keep his voice gentle, Kaoru said, "I'm sorry for pressing you about this. You had a right to privacy, and I violated it. For that I cry your pardon. But know this; I'm not angry with you, and whenever you're ready to talk I'll be there to listen. I promise."

She looked up at him there, something indecisive in her eyes, which was quickly resolved upon meeting his gaze. Then she buried her face in his chest, arms twining around his waist.

Kaoru was unsure how to react to this for a moment, then instinct seemed to take over and he wrapped his arms around her, hiding his face in her hair, breathing in the scent of her.

It would have been the perfect moment, except that William chose that minute to enter the room and squeal in delight.

"Oh, you two are just too adorable!" he gushed.

Julie groaned, and burrowed her face deeper into Kaoru's chest, this time from embarrassment, not emotion.

"Anyways," William continued in his normal tone, "I brought you your scripts. I expect you to have the gist of it by Thursday."

He then sauntered out the door, leaving Kaoru with two manila envelopes in his hand.

END!

(One quick note... Parvulus meanschild in Latin.)


	12. Chapter 11

**God, it's been forever, hasn't it? I'm sososososo sorry!**

**The good news is I have the next two chapters finished, and the next chapter is already typed up, so you'll get another updated fairly soon.**

**This is not BETA-ed, and I apologize. I sent my BETA an email a couple of weeks ago, but something must have gone wrong because she never replied. I'm working on that...**

**Anyways, sorry again, and enjoy!**

**Chapter Eleven**

"Well then…" Julie said to break the awkward silence that had fallen, "This should be, ah, interesting, to say the least."

Kaoru could only nod dumbly and stare in horrified shock at the page before him. How in the world did William come up with things like this?

His stupor was broken by Julie walking over to the desk/dresser and picking up a highlighter and a red pen.

"The grammar in this is terrible…. And my character is remarkably one-sided. I'm going to make some alterations." She sat down in the corner, seated on the spare blanket, and busied herself with writing. Her poise was still defensive and Kaoru realised that it would probably just take time to heal this particular wound.

Looking back to the script, he shuddered. This was so wrong! Yeah, he may have pretended to be gay for his twin brother on a regular basis, but at least he and Hikaru knew one another, and could laugh about the whole thing behind closed doors! He had barely met Julie a month ago and now he was expected to—

Gah! He couldn't even think it, let alone say it out loud. This was not okay, not okay in the slightest. Especially since there was a part of him that was actually looking forward to doing… those things… to her.

She would probably break his arm if she knew he had thought something like that….

Kaoru risked a glance in her direction and smiled at the sight before him.

Julie was hunched over her script, knees drawn up near her chest, red pen scribbling quickly across the page. Her tongue was poking out slightly from between her lips, so intense was her concentration. She kept making various faces as she read different parts of the writing, most of the ranging from somewhere between slightly disturbed to outright mortified.

Kaoru knew that there were problems in their relationship—mistrust and far too amny secrets, to start—but he was willing to go to almost any length to make things right between them. For her, he would do just about anything.

She clicked her pen decisively and looked up at him. Kaoru felt those inexplicable feelings welling u in his chest again. But at her, "Do you want to do a run-through? Dialogue only for now, I think," he pushed them aside

He would have time to figure them out later. For now, she was more important.

~o0O0o~

The time until the day of their presentation passed quickly. William came to visit them the night before to see what they had come up with, and to give advice (read: orders) during certain parts.

"Remember to stick to the script. Don't think about it too much and you should be fine," were Julie's words to Kaoru before they ran the skit (if it could be called such) for William, and the Japanese boy tried to take her advice to heart.

It was very difficult.

There were several reasons for this. First off, he was still as embarrassed as hell to even be doing these things to her in the first place, and the fact that William was watching them just made things that much more awkward.

The second reason had to do with just how intently William was watching them. He was staring, gaze fiery and dark, doing things that Kaoru really didn't want to think about, let alone see, but that were now burned into his retinas forevermore.

And, every time he kissed Julie during their presentation, touched her, held her in his arms, those strange feelings welled up inside his chest again, stronger every time, until he got to the point where the area around his heart was practically aching, and it got harder and harder to push the emotions away until he got the chance to think about them logically.

~o0O0o~

Kaoru was jolted awake rather roughly to see one of their guards, the one he had dubbed Machine Gun, looming above him. Kaoru was about to let out a startled yelp at the sight, but somebody beat him to it.

Both he and Machine Gun whirled around to a very interesting sight; their other guard, Muscles, pinned to the ground by none other than Julie.

She had wrenched the man's arm behind his back, and her knee was digging into the area between his shoulder blades. Eyes wild, hair a mess, mouth set in a grim line, she looked positively terrifying.

"Julie!" Kaoru exclaimed in utter shock. This seemed to snap the girl out of whatever daze or trance she had previously been in, and she released the man below her, rolling smoothly to her feet.

"I'm very sorry sir. But a word of advice; never wake me up in such a fashion again, unless of course, you enjoy having my knee driven into your spinal cord."

The two men stared at her in shock. Kaoru fought off the urge to grin like a maniac.

Machine Gun shook himself out of his stupor and managed to say, "Mr. Peterson would like us to escort you to your make up session. If you would come with us, please."

Although it sounded quite a bit like a polite request, Kaoru was under the impression that it was really just an order in disguise, so he and Julie both followed the two men without any fuss.

~o0O0o~

They were led through a maze of hallways until they arrived in front of a set of doors. Machine Gun jerked his head in a gesture of "go in."

Opening the door, Kaoru was faced with two identical make-up/changing stations separated by an opaque curtain. Before him, on either side of the curtain, stood two people, one boy, one girl, poised with make-up brushes and hair dryers at the ready.

They reminded him of Mori and Hunny-sempai in that they were total opposites. The girl, small and blonde, seemed quite subdued and serious. It seemed that her job was all that mattered to her, and she would do it well, without making any personal connections while accomplishing the task at hand.

The boy though… Tall, dark and handsome, he was practically bouncing in place, as if he had too much energy for it to be contained within his body. He was grinning (in a slightly manic fashion) and looked as if he would be able to make friends with a brick wall if he tried hard enough.

"Ooh!" the boy exclaimed. "Oh, William was right. She is very pretty. And the things I could do with that hair…" He reached up to touch the cropped off brown strands. Julie caught his wrist a foot from her head.

"I would appreciate it," she said, enunciating every word, "if you did not touch me unless necessary." She let go of his arm and walked over to one of the chairs, taking a seat as she ground out, "Let's just get this over with."

Kaoru moved to sit down in the other chair. Julie gave him a tight-lipped smile.

"Hello," the girl said to him as she closed the curtain between the two chairs, "My name is Clara, and I'll be helping you get ready for your meeting with Mr. Peterson today."

Kaoru nodded.

"Let's get started then," Clara said.

And there were no more words exchanged between them for a long while.

Kaoru amused himself by listening to the boy (Raymond, Kaoru heard in passing) ramble and chatter at Julie, with the girl responding in one of two syllables, if she even answered him at all.

A long while later, Clara said, "You're done."

Kaoru snapped out of his product-induced haze and looked at himself in the mirror sitting before him.

…

…He really didn't look all that different.

Sure, his hair was styled a little bit differently, and Clara had applied powder foundation so that his skin looked smoother, but that was it, really.

"Finished," came Raymond's satisfied voice from the other side of the curtain, which was then jerked open to reveal…

Julie.

She didn't look that much different either, the logical side of Kaoru's brain provided, but the rest of his mind quickly silenced it, because there was something different, and she looked so very beautiful, even if there was really no reason for it.

The door swung open again and Machine Gun and Muscles walked back into the small room.

"Come," Machine Gun barked out, and the pair of them once again followed along without protest.

Meandering through the labyrinth of tunnels, Kaoru tried to stop his mind from reeling. He had met with royalty and never been impressed yet one rag-tag military dog was able to unravel him so entirely?! It was weird, really weird, and Kaoru did not want to think about the implications of these emotions.

They stopped outside of yet another plain door. Machine Gun punched in a code and ushered them through the door, Muscles looming imposingly behind them.

The room was black, with a two-way mirror and many screens showing many different video feeds; the experiment room (or "torture chamber"), various other rooms, video feeds of many different people…

Julie had positioned herself near the computer technicians, far enough away that it wasn't suspicious, but close enough that she could, Kaoru presumed, anyways, hear every word that the technicians were saying. Kaoru walked over to join her.

"What can you hear?" he asked her.

"Shh!" was her reply. "I'm trying to listen."

She closed her eyes and her brow furrowed slightly in concentration. Kaoru mimicked her, to the best of his ability.

"…with surveillance on the Hitachiin boy, the security on the mansion is so heavy. The fact that Dulcimyer doesn't speak a word of Japanese really isn't helping things either."

"Yeah, there's been trouble on a couple of other fronts as well. The Bradley's live in a really secluded part of Montana, so it's hard to set up surveillance, and Grealing's been complaining about, and I quote, "how goddamn cold" it is in Northern Russia."

"Phfft… Grealing'd find something to complain about even if we had him stationed in Hawaii… What the hell?!

"What's wrong?"

"It's that Rutherford-Hopkins boy, Joshua."

"Ah. What did he do this time?"

"He spotted the guy who was trailing him… again. That's the fourth officer he's hospitalised so far! I don't know how Dr. Peterson intends to keep him under surveillance; there are stories circling around and the men are starting to get scared."

A hand on his wrist startled Kaoru away from the conversation and back to his body.

Julie stood slightly in front of him, to the left, hand in a vice grip around Kaoru's arm, nails digging slightly into the skin, talking to one of the other white-clad technicians who had been milling about the room.

"He's very nervous, I think that he was probably just trying to steady his nerves, that's all," she was saying to the man looking entirely serious, no hint of a lie showing on her face.

"Be more careful!" she snapped once the man had turned back to his work, "You could have blown my cover!"

Kaoru spluttered, uncertain how, exactly, to respond to this situation.

"But—How—I didn't—Shouldn't you be a little more… I dunno… happy?"

"Why?"

"Well because…. Your brother is alright! He isn't stuck in this hellhole like us. Shouldn't that make you happy? Shouldn't you feel relieved?"

"Well, this does provide an unexpected tactical advantage, which is good…" her voice lowered, as if she was talking to herself, "so that means I can cut out that entire section out of the plan… upping the chances of success to… 42 percent."

"The plan? What plan?"

"Our escape strategy, of course. It's really quite a good thing that our siblings aren't here; we have a much higher chance of success now."

"You actually thought that they were here?"

"I didn't know anything for certain until now. But when creating a strategy like the one I'm working on now, you should always prepare for the worst possible scenario so that if it occurs, you aren't left reeling for a way out."

"I see…. Still, aren't you at least a little bit relieved to know that your brother is safe?"

"I cannot allow my emotions to affect my work. It makes for flawed plans and sloppy execution."

But Kaoru could see the excitement and relief, however repressed, shining in her bright blue eyes.

He decided to let it slide; he was quite surprised that she could even retain that much composure. He was struggling to keep himself in check and not dance around the room laughing like an idiot.

Therefore Kaoru was relieved when William walked in, his "Follow me!" overly cheerful, because it gave him something other than 'Hikaru is safe' to focus on.

The room William led them to was nothing like any of the other rooms they had seen in the facility so far. Those rooms had a cold, clinical feel to them; they were very impersonal.

The room they were in now was obviously a set, considering that there was a crew of people rearranging things, but the feel of it reminded Kaoru of his and Hikaru's bedroom back home. There were "personal effects" scattered about, the walls were painted a medium blue, and the bed covers were slightly rumpled; it actually looked lived in!

While Kaoru gaped about in moderate shock, Julie made her way straight to the bed and assumed her starting position—laying on her side in a sort of "I'm-trying-to-look-sexy-but-still-make-it-seem-completely-accidental" sort of a pose.

"Kaoru, come on!" she said, snapping from his daze yet again. He proceeded over to the bed and sprawled out next to her upon it, lying on his back with his hands behind his head.

As William fiddled with the camera, Julie leaned over Kaoru and whispered softly, "Are you ready for this?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," he replied, shooting her a strained smile. She returned it.

"Ready?" William's overly excited voice called.

"Let's do this," Julie breathed.

And then they began.

~o0O0o~

They moved through the motions flawlessly, the sort of smooth flow that can only be achieved by endless practicing permeating their every action, even if their minds were elsewhere. Kaoru knew that his mind certainly was.

He was trying so hard to concentrate on remembering his lines, because he couldn't mess this up, not in front of all of these people, not to mention that he couldn't bear to see the disappointed look in Julie's eyes if he did.

But still…. He couldn't help but wish that she actually meant it when she said that she loved him. He had almost caught himself replying with an "I love you, too" several times, and was constantly reminding himself that it was just a play and that he needed to stay in character.

~o0O0o~

Finally, an eternity later, they were done. Julie rolled up and off of Kaoru almost as soon as William had yelled out, "Cut!"

Kaoru missed the warmth of her body atop of his almost immediately.

'What the hell is happening to me?' he thought as he walked out the door, following after the brown-haired beauty.

Yet no matter how hard he thought about it, no matter how hard he pondered, the solution to this dilemma did not present itself to him.

And so, Kaoru was left to grapple with the confusing jumble of emotions all on his own.

This was the first time in a fairly long while that he truly, completely and desperately wished that Hikaru was there with him. His twin had always been good at helping him muddle through his feelings on the rare occasions he needed help figuring them out.

But Hikaru wasn't there, and Kaoru wasn't sure how much longer he could deal with this crushing jumble of feelings before he cracked.

**Did you like it? Drop me a line saying what you liked best, or disliked, or whatever. And once again, I'm sorrryyyyyy! ;P**

**~Julie~**


	13. Chapter 12

**Hello there! What's up?**

**So, just a quick update; the next chapter for this is written but not typed, and the chapter after that is in the works. This story is nearing it's end though. However, I'm planning a two to five chapter Interlude and a sequel. Sound good?**

**I hope you like it! **

**Chapter 12**

When they got back to the room, Julie immediately called out an "I'll be right back," and made her way out via the hole in the ceiling.

~o0O0o~

She returned half an hour later, dropping onto the bed and walking straight over to the desk in the corner. Pulling out some sheets of paper, she began to draw on one, using the spine of the one book they had (a battered copy of the Holy Bible) to draw straight lines. After a while she grabbed another page, jotted down some notes, and then stuck the end of her pen in her mouth, deep in thought.

"Where did you get all this stuff?" Kaoru blurted. He really couldn't help it; the curiosity was killing him (he had never noticed any of this stuff before—had she stolen it?) as was the endless silence.

"I was here for nearly two weeks before you got here." Her voice was distant, distracted. "After they found out about my laser pointer on day three and confiscated it, I was on my best behavior. The guards liked that. They gave me paper and pens so that I could write because I told them I was an aspiring author. The Bible was so that I could hold my own mini church services."

She turned away, still deep in thought, and remained there for the rest of the evening, picking at her dinner while scribbling on a sheet of paper.

When Kaoru lay down for the night, she was still sitting there, gaze distant, muttering softly to herself, pen stuck firmly between her teeth.

~o0O0o~

She was still there when he woke up the next morning, in almost the exact same position that she had been in the night before.

~o0O0o~

"Julie," Kaoru's voice was pleading, "you have to sleep."

It was three days later, and he hadn't seen the military girl stop her work even once, save for when they had to leave on shower days.

When she didn't reply, only continuing to write, he tried, "You're exhausted. You're going to work yourself to death."

Still no response from his roommate.

He was getting desperate. He only had one more thing up his sleeve to try to get her to take a nap.

"Please," he said, voice breaking, touching her gently on the arm, "do it for me. I'm really worried about you."

She finally looked up, blue eyes tired and filled with desperation, and nodded slightly. Kaoru smiled.

~o0O0o~

Days continued to pass. The only change was that Julie adopted a much more normal sleeping schedule, which Kaoru was very grateful for.

~o0O0o~

"Two months," she said one day from her post at the desk, "we've been here for two whole months."

"You've been here for longer," Kaoru replied.

She shrugged her shoulders, giving him a sideways glance and a small, bitter smile. She didn't say a word.

~o0O0o~

Two days later, she triumphantly declared, "Finished!"

Kaoru looked up at her from his place on the bed and raised his eyebrows quizzically. "Finished what?"

"The plan."

"Wha- Oh. The plan. Right."

There was a brief silence.

Kaoru spoke again. "Umm… what plan?"

She rolled her eyes in exasperation and slight distaste. "Our escape plan! Duh…."

` "Oh! Oh, of course. My bad."

Julie nodded, grinning broadly. Evidently, she was very pleased with herself.

Rising from her place, she walked over to the bed, saying, "I just need to check a few things," before vanishing through the ceiling.

~o0O0o~

This process of coming and going periodically continued for the next few days. They had some very close calls, all of which nearly gave Kaoru a heart attack, but they never actually got caught, so he supposed that it was all still alright.

~o0O0o~

A few more days of this, then Julie announced one night over dinner, "We're ready to leave any day now. There's just one last thing I need to see if I can manage…"

~o0O0o~

She came back from her outing that night with a laser pointer clutched in her palm. She hid it under the mattress, smiling slightly to herself.

"We leave tomorrow," she told Kaoru before turning in for the night.

~o0O0o~

They were taken for their second appointment with Dr. Peterson the very next day.

"Well," Julie said when the guards arrived, "so much for that then."

~o0O0o~

The pain this time was just as bad, if not even worse than the first time that they had been brought in.

~o0O0o~

Julie stayed with him.

Kaoru was immobile, stuck on the bed trying his very hardest not to move lest he open the scabs and make the pain worse than it already was.

He pleaded with her just to leave, to go on and escape this place without him, and she adamantly refused every time he brought up the subject.

"I am not leaving you!" she yelled when he mentioned it this time.

"I thought you weren't supposed to let your emotions get in the way of your work?" Kaoru shot back at her.

They stared at each other for a long moment before Julie dropped down onto the end of the bed by Kaoru's feet and rested her face in her hands.

"I know I'm not supposed to." she said, words muffled by her hands. However, the flesh couldn't hide the fact that her voice was shaking. "I do. How could I not after it's been drilled into my head for so long? But…. God Kaoru, I don't even know what I'm trying to say here! My plan was made to accommodate two people, and even though it would work just as well, if not better with only one, I just… I won't leave you. I can't."

She finally looked up at him, cerulean eyes filled to the brim with tears that were threatening to overflow at any given moment.

"I love you, damn it!" She was sobbing by this point, voice thick and choked up with emotion.

"I love you."

**Haha, I'm so evil... Review, my lovelies! **


	14. Chapter 13

**Hello! Been a while, eh? Sorry about that... The next chapter is amost done though, so you might get two whole updates thins month!**

**Anyhow, on with the story. This is a bit of a filler, but the next chapter should prove to be a doozy, so woot for that.**

**I'm exausted...**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any charaters from OHSHC. The song "Time in a Bottle" beongs to Jim Croce, and "The A Team" to Ed Sheeran. I don't know who owns "Scarborough Fair", but it isn't mine either.**

Chapter 13

"Tell me about your job."

It was the third day of Kaoru's bed rest, and he was going a little bit stir crazy. He needed to do something and talking was about the only thing that he could, considering that moving was out of the question at the moment.

And so, there they were.

He didn't know why he had asked her that particular question, considering she probably wouldn't even answer him, if the fact that she was acting like she hadn't even heard him in the first place was any indication.

"Tell me about your job," he said again.

Julie blinked. "Pardon me?"

"Tell me about your job." Kaoru repeated stubbornly.

"I really don't think that's a good idea…" she said uncomfortably.

"Why not? I want to know."

"Kaoru…. You aren't thinking this through."

"Would you care to enlighten me, then?"

She fell silent for a moment, then said quietly, "I've done things you can't even imagine. Horrible things. I've killed people; on orders and without them, amongst other things. Do you really want to hear about that?"

Kaoru hesitated. Did he really want to know about such terrible things? In that split second he decided that yes, he did want to.

"I do," he said seriously.

"Are you sure?" she pressed, "100 percent certain? This is your last chance to back out, because once I start I'm not stopping."

Kaoru rolled his eyes. "Yes, I'm sure. Jeez, Julie! I thought you loved me…."

As soon as the words left his mouth, he froze. They hadn't breached this subject since she had broken down before him two days previously, both of them unsure what, exactly, they were supposed to say. She had been so desperate, so serious when she had said it, Kaoru instantly felt guilty fro having joked about the words, feeling as if he was ridiculing her feelings by brushing them off so casually.

Julie herself had frozen, the guarded expression back on her face, shield back over her eyes.

"Oh God," Kaoru stuttered out, "I didn't mean that, I shouldn't have said that, I'm so sorry…. Ugh, I'm so stupid—"

"Kaoru," she cut him off, guarded expression mostly gone, "it's fine."

"But it's not fine! I must have sounded like such a mean, terrible person-" He was cut off by her finger against his lips. Shockwaves spread through his body from the point of contact.

"Kaoru. You're rambling."

He shut up at that point. There was a dull throbbing pain in his left shoulder, but he didn't mention it. It was probably nothing, and he didn't want to seem like a baby, or like he was changing the subject.

"I'm not offended that you said that," Julie was saying, "Loving somebody and being _in_ love with someone are two very different things." She wouldn't meet his eyes.

The words were out before Kaoru could stop them. "Have you ever been in love?"

She smiled sadly. "No, I haven't. Well…. Maybe… it's complicated."

Kaoru didn't press the matter further, partially because he knew that she would tell him when she was ready, and partially because the pain in his shoulder was growing more intense, going from a dull throb to a sharp, stabbing feeling every time he took a breath. It felt almost as if there was something grating against his bone.

The pain must have shown on his face because Julie looked alarmed then concerned and exclaimed, "What's wrong?"

Kaoru felt his face twist into a grimace. "My shoulder hurts."

She nodded sharply, already turning to search the first aid kit.

"I'll check the wound and give you some painkillers. Is Advil alright?"

"Yes."

She turned back to him with two small capsules in hand, as well as a mostly empty bottle of water.

"We're running low. I'll have to refill it shortly."

While Kaoru took the pills, Julie fetched the half gone roll of bandages and dragged the desk chair over to his side, taking a seat and leaning over him.

She unwrapped the bandages, poked about for a moment and said, "Oh. Oh, dear."

Alarmed, Kaoru replied, "What? What's wrong?"

"There's … something… in the wound. We have to get it out." She looked Kaoru in the eyes. "This is going to hurt. A lot. Are you sure you can deal with it?"

He nodded. "Maybe if you give me something else to focus on? Like, you could sing or something?"

She nodded, looking slightly nervous. "Okay."

**~o0O0o~**

It took her twenty minutes to prepare. She had cleaned the knife they had used to cut up the apples they'd had with lunch, fetched as much cushioning fabric/tissue as she could find, and set the rubbing alcohol near the bed for sanitation purposes.

She had pinned her bangs with a couple of bobby and changed into less baggy clothing so the excess fabric didn't get in the way.

Everything was set. Her hands were shaking.

"Julie?" Kaoru ventured, "Are you alright?"

She gave him a shaky smile. "Just nervous. I've never done this before. I mean, I covered operations of this sort in my training, but knowing how to do something and actually doing it are two very different things."

"You'll be fine," Kaoru said, trying his best to sound reassuring, "I believe in you."

**~o0O0o~**

She gave him a folded up piece of cloth to bite on.

"This is going to hurt a lot so I apologize in advance."

He nodded.

She began to sing.

"If I could save time in a bottle

The first thing that I'd like to do

Is to save everyday 'till eternity passes away

Just to spend them with you"

The pain was excruciating as she sliced his skin further open, ripping apart untouched flesh and scabs alike.

"If I could make days last forever

If words could make wishes come true

I'd save everyday like a treasure and then

Again, I would spend them with you"

Kaoru bit hard on the fabric in his mouth and tried to just focus on the soft, beautiful voice drifting over him.

"But there never seems to be enough time

To do the things you wanna do

Once you find them

And I've looked around enough to know

That you're the one I wanna go

Through time with"

The pain grew even more as she forced his flesh apart to force the sterilized tweezers inside to get out whatever was in there.

"If I had a box just for wishes

And dreams that would never come true

The box would be empty except for the memory

Of how they were answered by you"

The tweezers went in, both soothing the irritated flesh with their cool surface and burning it with icy shards of pain.

"But there never seems to be enough time

To do the things you wanna do

Once you find them

And I've looked around enough to know

That you're the one I wanna go

Through time with"

She paused for a moment, letting the last note ring out its full tone, then began to sing a new song.

"White lips, pale face

Breathing in snowflakes

Burnt lungs, sour taste"

The metal surface of the tweezers was becoming warm now, the cold sensation nearly gone. It was not a relief however; if anything, it only made the pain even worse.

"Light's gone, day's end

Struggling to pay rent

Long nights, strange men"

The tweezers moved around. It seemed that whatever it was she was trying to grab was evading the grasp of the tweezers.

"And they say she's in the class-A team

Stuck in her daydreams

Been this way since eighteen

But lately her face seems

Slowly sinking, wasting

Crumbling like pastries and they scream

The worst things in life come free to us"

A muttered curse and the tweezers stopped moving. Fabric ran along his skin, wiping away the lifeblood flowing from his veins.

"'Cause she's just under the upper hand

Goes mad for a couple grams

And she don't wanna go outside tonight

In the pipe she'll fly to the motherland

And sell off to another man

It's too cold outside for angel's to fly"

The tweezers started moving again, this time seeming to actually grasp a hold of whatever it was that was lodged inside.

"Ripped gloves, raincoat

Try to swim and stay float

Dry house, wet cloths"

The grabbing tool began to withdraw, firmly clasped around the offending object. Every inch that they withdrew burned with pain, but also felt renewed and refreshed with relief.

"Loose change, bank notes

Weary eyes and dry throat

Cool girl, no phone, oh"

The tweezers finished their excruciatingly slow removal, and an intense pressure covered the wounded area.

"And they say she's in the class-A team

Stuck in her daydreams

Been this way since eighteen

But lately her face seems

Slowly sinking, wasting

Crumbling like pastries and they scream

The worst things in life come free to us"

The pressure continued, almost painful in its continuing, consistent pressure upon the inflamed, flesh.

"'Cause she's just under the upper hand

Goes mad for a couple grams

And she don't wanna go outside tonight

In the pipe she'll flies to the motherland

And sell off to another man

It's too cold outside for angels to fly"

The pressure was removed for an instant before soft bandages began to press against the irritated tissue.

"Now an angel died

Covered in white

With closed eyes and hoping for a better life

Now this time now we'll fade out tonight

Straight down the line

Straight down the line, ohhhh!"

Another curse, and the bandages are unwrapped again, cold air stinging the lacerations painting his flesh.

"And they say she's in the class-A team

Stuck in her daydreams

Been this way since eighteen

But lately her face seems

Slowly sinking, wasting

Crumbling like pastries and they scream

The worst things in life come free to us"

A sudden and intense sting—that must have been the rubbing alcohol—then a bearable, only slight twinge spread across the area with the thick slave.

"'Cause we are all under the upper hand

Go mad for a couple grams

And we don't wanna go outside tonight

In the pipe we'll fly to the motherland

And sell off to another man

And it's too cold outside for angels to fly"

The bandages were back by this point, wrapping tightly around the abused flesh.

"It's too cold outside for angel to fly

To fly, to fly

For angels to die"

"There," she said, "done."

Kaoru forced his vocal chords into action.

"Good," he said, "Knew you could do it." His shoulder was still on fire and he was completely exhausted.

She laughed softly, in a mix of relief and slight hysteria. "Thanks. Now sleep."

She started singing again, all the while softly stroking his hair.

"Are you going to Scarborough Fair?

Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme

Remember me to one who lives there

She once was a true love of mine…"

Kaoru's eyes slipped shut, the dark waves of sleep washing over his consciousness as he let the blackness envelop him.

**~o0O0o~**

When he woke again, his shoulder was still throbbing like mad, but it was slightly more bearable now.

Julie was sitting on the bed. His head rested in her lap, just like the last time something of this nature had occurred.

"You're awake," she smiled. Kaoru nodded, not trusting his parched throat to make a sound. She seemed to sense this and handed him the bottle, helping him sip some of the clear liquid within. When he was done, they settled back into their original position. Kaoru gave a contented sigh.

She again broke the silence.

"Since we're going to be here for a while, do you still want to hear about my job?"

He managed to croak out, "Yes, please."

"Alright. This is going to be kind of sporadic and quite long, so I apologize for that. It isn't something particularly easy for me to recount."

She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and muttered, "Here we go…"

**End.**

**So how did you like it?**

**Plus, if anyone's interested in listening to Scarborough Fair, which is an absolutely GORGEOUS song, I would recommend the Simon and Garfunkle version. It's called "Scarborough Fair/Canticle"**

**Anyways, please leave me a review, feedback is always appreciated!**

**~JM~**


	15. Chapter 14

**PLEASE READ THIS. IT'S IMPORTANT TO THE STORY!**

**So. Anybody remember this moment from chapter ten?**

**Julie was having a nightmare, screaming...**

_"No! Leave him alone! Please take me instead! Thomas! Thomas, NO!"_

**Yeah, well that comes into play in this chapter.**

**Also, I know nothing about guns, so excuse that as much as possible. I tried to do a bit of online research, but everything was contradictory, so I just guessed. My apologies.**

**Lastly, I am immensly disappointed with the lack of feedback I recieved for the previous chapter. It had about 500 reads by the end of a week and no reviews at all. It was very disappointing. I live off feedback, so honestly, even if it's only a word, please leave me some.**

**That being said, I do not own OUran, and I hope you enjoy. **

Chapter 14

I suppose that I'll start at the beginning. I know that you wanted to hear about my job, but… I think that you need the whole story to really understand it.

I had a happy childhood, give or take. I took ballet, wore fluffy dresses and played with dolls. I had the best brother any girl could ever ask for, a mother who loved me more than anything, and a father who was aloof, but approved of the things I did and who was proud of me.

Before we go any farther, I should mention that my family has a very strong military background. My grandfather served in the Navy during the Cold War, my great-grandfather served in World War Two, Uncle Jim, my father's brother, was in the Air Force before he got sick, and three of my other relatives are currently serving in various facets of the armed forces, not including David who went MIA in Iraq a while back. My father would have served if he'd been able; he's got asthma, severe allergies and a bad knee from playing hockey when he was in high school. He's the most patriotic, "support-our-troops" person I've ever met, and that includes my trainers, Special Forces, veterans and generals from armies all over the world.

I always knew that dad expected Joshua to join up someday, too. It was basically his legacy. But I had always figured it would be a long ways in the future, when we were both grown up, and I had a job as an actress or a model or a principle dancer in the National Ballet of Canada, or any other such girly things.

Operation Parvulus was started by the Canadian Special Operations and Intelligence Agency in 2002, when Josh and I were seven. It operated on this theory that children are more perceptive to learning skills such as languages and martial arts, amongst many other things. They wanted to create a team of child operatives who could complete tasks that adults couldn't, in places like schools or amusement parks. Children would be less obvious in these situations, and nobody would suspect them of being undercover military operatives. They began looking for children to take part in the experimental phase of the operation.

When father heard about it, he immediately signed Joshua up. This… was not okay with me. We were at that phase where we did_ everything_ together, and I wasn't about to let him do it alone. Father wasn't happy—the military was not a place for a girl like me, I should be delicate and dainty and graceful and all that stuff—but he let me, knowing that I only wanted to join because my brother was and that I would probably give up on it after a couple of weeks.

Both my brother and I made it through the selection process easily. Living near the border with Québec, we already spoke a fair bit of French and a little Cree from the natives on the reservation that we sometimes visited. They tested our strength, balance and flexibility, which I sailed through thanks to my ballets lessons. Josh did too, because I always taught him everything I learned in dance class. They tested how well we could stay calm in stressful situations, banging things, yelling at us and many other things. Clearly, they had never seen our father in a rage before…. Needless to say, we passed that part too.

Along with twenty other children, Joshua and I had just become official members of Operation Parvulus.

Training was hard; I'm not going to lie to you. Especially at first. Joshua and I had a head start on everybody in languages, but weapons training was killer. Our hands were too small to handle most of the guns comfortably, and do you know how much it hurts when a rifle recoils into your shoulder? A lot! There were a lot of days when I wanted to quit, but then Joshua would do something small, like taking my hand or whispering a joke about the trainer's mustache in my ear, and I remembered that my brother was there with me and everything would be okay.

We got better as time went on. Our hands were less clumsy on the weapons and we could actually lift the machine guns and RPG launchers. The languages remained pretty easy. Had a bit of an issue with Spanish at first, but that smoothed itself out. We began to study hand-to-hand combat, various styles of martial arts; karate, judo, tai-kwan-do, kendo, kung-fu, jiu-jitsu…. We studied fencing and boxing, strategy and tactical thinking. I excelled in all of these, though I enjoyed fighting the most. It's… graceful, you know? Sort of like dance in its own way. I felt at home there. I still do.

After a couple years training all together, they divided us into five groups based on our strongest skill set; political, technological, intelligence, alpha and beta. We still did whole group training for some things, but we began to study more specialized material based on our group.

The political group specialized in dealing with people. They were the ones who debated with government officials (and usually won…), pulled the strings to get us permission to operate in various foreign countries when the need to arose, got us access to classified files (not that we couldn't have hacked into the systems if we had needed, we just liked to ask nicely before resorting to drastic (and illegal) measures), and provided the cover stories for some of our larger operations.

Intel and Tech worked very closely together. Tech made all our gadgets, they were the computer nerds. They created and tested weapons and other gear. They were also master hackers. Thing is, so were Intel. They were in charge of gathering all our information. They could hack classified sites in minutes, and were in charge of organizing and maintaining our target database, and researching background on every mission we were given.

Beta was out backup squad, for lack of better way to put it. They never took any major missions unless none of the alpha operatives were available. They were very good, don't get me wrong, but they were lacking _something_; be it tactical thinking, the ability to function effectively under pressure, or just confidence in themselves. Joshua was put in this group. He had all the necessary skills to be an alpha, but he was somewhat lacking in motivation and he didn't do too well outside of controlled situations, hesitating to act if lives were at risk. He would rather have sacrificed himself than let anybody else die.

I was a part of team Alpha. The best, the brightest, the most ruthless, Alpha was the top group, the leaders, with a moderate amount of skill in hacking and with people, plus an unmatched prowess in martial arts and tactics. Imagine my father's surprise when his darling little girl was placed into the top team of operatives!

We started field training shortly after we were split into groups. Each of us was assigned to an operative for training. Mine was named Phillip. He was a man in his mid-thirties, gruff but loyal. Ex-MI6 agent before he immigrated to Canada. Scottish. Lovely man.

The first time he saw me, he said "I will not work with a little pansy like that."

That was before he saw me go through the trials. Before he saw me load and fire off a full machine gun clip in under two minutes. Before he saw me hit a circle of targets dead on with a pair of handguns. Before he saw me take out five full grown martial arts champions one after the other, no break necessary.

He was okay with training me after that.

…

…The first time I ever killed someone, I was barely eleven. I had been training with Phillip for about six months. We were on a fairly simple mission; hostage situation. But the guy… he was crazy. Completely insane. He… he somehow managed to get in a lucky blow against Phillip, and he was going to shoot this woman. She had a child with her, and I didn't see any way around it so…. I had a handgun for precautionary measures—we weren't supposed to kill anyone unless there was no alternative—and… I… I shot him. One round, right in the chest. He seemed shocked for a moment, and then he fell face first on the ground. It all happened so fast…. I never even knew his name. Phillip… he recovered and went over to the body, feeling for a pulse in his neck.

"Dead," he said after a moment and patted me gently on the shoulder before going on with the evacuation process.

I was inconsolable for weeks. I felt like a monster. I still do, sometimes. I wouldn't allow anyone to see me but Joshua. After about a week, Phillip muscled his way into my room and told me something that I use to cope with the killing to this day.

"Look child," he said, "I know that you're hurting right now. I understand. I do. But you have to remember that in killing him, you saved so many lives. You stopped that child from becoming an orphan. In this line of work you have to look at things this way else you'll drive yourself mad. Don't think about the deaths, the lives you've taken. Think of all of the lives you've saved."

And then he ruffled my hair and walked back out.

I cried. I hadn't really done so before that point, but that night I did. Josh stayed with me the whole time. He didn't say anything; he didn't have to. His presence was enough.

After that, things were fine for a while. I killed a couple of other people that we went up against, but only when I absolutely had to, and always keeping Phillip's words in mind to keep from driving myself insane with guilt.

I knew about PTSD (that's post-traumatic stress disorder, in case you didn't know) and the nightmares and flashbacks and all that stuff that veterans often have problems with, but being as young and naïve as I was. I figured that it would never be a problem for me. And it wasn't.

Not until… not until Thomas.

…Ah, God I'm sorry *sniff*. It's still really hard for me to talk about this without breaking down….

Okay.

So, when I was fourteen, I started my first large-scale, long-term undercover operation. Intel had gotten wind of this plot to assassinate the young heir to a large company. I can't give you any details, hell, I can't even tell you his last name, but his first name was Thomas.

My objective was to infiltrate the boarding school and become close enough to the target to provide protection and aid in his escape if need be, as well as doing some low-key investigation concerning the responsible party and their plans. Phillip was there as well, disguised as a janitor, to supervise more than anything else, and to provide assistance if something went wrong, or if it seemed that I needed it. Josh was my backup.

Thomas knew none of this, of course. As far as he was concerned, we were just the children of a big-deal politician from a small-deal place that he'd never heard of. He actually befriended Josh first—they bonded over their mutual love for cricket, of all things. Apparently, he was nervous around me. He thought that I was beautiful, the most beautiful girl that he had ever seen.

Months past, and we grew closer. Mine and Josh's fifteenth birthday passed, and Thomas called me aside on the Saturday of our party, and we talked, sitting out on the roof of the school. He told me that he thought he might be in love with me.

I couldn't say anything like that back to him, since I wasn't entirely sure I would mean whatever came out of my mouth, so I kissed him instead.

We were "in a relationship" then, and as a couple more months passed, I realized that I was doing the one thing forbidden to me, the metaphorical death of the undercover agent.

I was falling in love with the target.

Of course, right when I got up the nerve to tell him so, it all went to hell in a hand basket.

The assassins struck a month earlier than we expected them to. Apparently, it was impromptu and unplanned. Thomas and I ended up running, me leading, him stumbling behind in shock, until we reached the secret bunker that Phillip had hidden in the janitor's office.

"What the hell is going on?" Thomas yelled at me. So, as I loaded my M4 semi-automatic rifle and harness my side-arms, I told him basically what I've told you, albeit very much condensed.

He didn't take it well.

Ha was angry. SO angry. I just wanted to get him out of there, but he resisted every step of the way. We were almost out when he decided to stop dead and not move another inch until—God, I still remember every word that he said.

He said, "Just tell me this Julie (is that even your real name?). Am I just some sort of a job to you? Do you even care about me at all or was acting like you did just another part of the job?"

The whole time I was shaking my head furiously, pleading with him to please come on, that we'd talk about it later, once we were out, but he refused to budge an inch until I told him the true extent of our relationship, exactly what he meant to me. But, I couldn't force the words out. I just couldn't make myself say it.

The position we were in was very exposed. I knew that, but Thomas wouldn't listen.

They… they shot him. One bullet from the second floor balcony, angled through the chest. It missed everything vital, but he would bleed out in a couple of minutes nonetheless.

He died in my arms.

That's when the nightmares started. Over and over, I see myself losing him, I see the eyes of all of the people I've killed, all the people I've watched die, unable to do anything to help them. Their eyes… they haunt me.

Nobody would let me go anywhere for _ages _after Thomas. My first solo mission after that was about three months ago. Simple recon, though it was still exhausting. That's the only reason they got me. I was too tired to fight off more than one at a time, and I completely forgot about the other one, who fired off the tranquilizer.

So, here I am. That's my story.

I ask that you don't bring it up again. I try not to dwell on the past too much. It was painful enough the first time around.

**I'm really tempted to write the Thomas story and post it on my fiction press, considering as it's not really fanficttion. Should I? Let me know and I might! **

**If you wanna check out my fictionpress account, it's the same username as here without the underscore. I would love to hear some feedback on the only thing I have posted there so far, a short romantidc-trajedy type thing! It's called Flower Shop Girl.**

**Now I'm done shamelessly advertising.**

**What are your thoughts on this chapter? Let me know!**

**~JM~**


	16. Notes and Things

**THESE ARE IMPORTANT TO THE READERS OF THIS STORY. PLEASE READ! SEVERAL THINGS WILL MAKE A LOT MORE SENSE IF YOU DO!**

First off, I would like to apologize for the massive and unannounced hiatus I took from this story. It was never my intention to leave it for so long. Long story short, I had really bad writers block, then final exams for my last year of high school, and then I spent my entire summer working at a camp for people with special needs. I had a boyfriend, and then I didn't, all my friends moved really far away to go to university, my depression got a lot worse, I was diagnosed with a bipolar spectrum disorder, I had to catch up on Doctor Who in time for the 50th anniversary, I couldn't find my notebook, my mother got married (again…), and here we are!

Now I'd like to talk a bit about the story and the future that I see for the universe that it's set in and what I might like to do with the characters.

So, there are only three chapters left in this story as of now, I think. One filler, one detailing their escape and one set at the airport after all is said and done, with family reunions and whatnot. There are some other things, detailed below, that I would like to write involving this storyline if anyone is interested. Review or PM me if you are. I won't write them if nobody speaks up and says that they want to read them, because I don't want to post things that nobody is interested in.

Other Stories in this Universe:

_Interlude: _Set in the time between their escape and the final chapter of Never Leave You which is set in an airport as Kaoru and Julie return home to their families. Details their misadventures in the jungle of South America as they struggle to find civilisation and make their way home. No title at the moment; suggestions welcome and much appreciated.

_Sequel: "With You Forever" (working title, suggestions welcome): _They may be out, but the scars still remain. Set about three months after the end of Never Leave You, this details the recovery process of Kaoru and Julie. Featuring the rest of the Host Club, Joshua and several of Julie's military "friends", this story will explore the aftermath of their trauma, their continually deepening relationship and more into Julie's past and military career. May also feature more drama, since there are more characters to interact with.

_Side Story: _Will be posted on Fictionpress, since it features only my original characters. Detailing the Thomas storyline that Julie mentions briefly in the last chapter I posted. What really happened then? Who was Thomas and who wanted to kill him? No title at the moment; suggestions are welcome and much appreciated

So, there you have it. Please review, and tell me what you think of my plans for this universe. The nest chapter proper should be posted within an hour or so, I just have to finish typing it.

~JM~


	17. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

They didn't talk much after that,

Julie retreated in to herself after her story, unused to revealing that much about herself to a veritable stranger, especially all at once. Or at least, that's what Kaoru hoped. All that she did was prepare for their imminent escape.

This left Kaoru with a lot of time alone, which he wasn't sure if he was happy about or not. On one hand, it avoided a lot of awkward moments with Julie (and they were awkward. Nothing was easy between them anymore. Neither of them knew what to say, leading to a lot of heavily charged, awkward silences. Even when the silence was broken, their dialogue was hesitant and uncomfortable. It was a relief to be able to get away from the stifling feeling of words unsaid.) But on the other hand, all of that time alone in silence gave Kaoru a lot of time to think. And think he did.

He thought on his brother, his friends and the Host Club. He thought of his mother and father. But mostly, he thought about Julie. About her relationship with Thomas. About Joshua, her parents and Phillip. About how warped her childhood must have been growing up in the military.

Most frequently, however, he wondered. What was she really capable of? He'd seen her language skills first hand, and her good physical form, though only briefly. He'd seen her pain tolerance and some of her undercover skills. Still, he had a hard time reconciling the beautiful, if unusually talented young women that he'd come to know with the (albeit reluctant) killer that she described herself to be. He had never seen her do anything like that, and he just couldn't imagine her shooting anybody, even if necessary. She was so full of life, treasured living so much, he couldn't picture her robbing another person of that.

He was giving himself a headache. He always did when he thought about these things, so he stopped.

Sighing, Kaoru drifted off into sleep again.

~o0O0o~

A couple of weeks passed and Kaoru slowly recovered from his injuries. Julie had adopted a normal sleeping pattern again, which relieved the Japanese boy greatly. She had also begun to join him on the bed, which, considering the general awkwardness between them, came as quite a surprise. It was nice though, Kaoru supposed, falling asleep next to her, because most of the time she was gone by the time he woke up.

"Another couple of days and I think we should be good to go," Julie announced one evening (they'd just finished eating dinner). Because his mouth was still full of bread, Kaoru merely nodded, cheeks slightly puffed out. She smiled slightly at his face, though she tried to hide it.

"Get some sleep" she said, amusement clear in her tone.

She curled up next to him, head pillowed on her arm an close her eyes. Her breathing slowed and evened out as she relaxed and allowed her body to slip into sleep. It had surprised Kaoru when he first learned that she could force her body in to sleep. Even greater was his shock and worry when he realised that she could also keep herself from sleeping no matter how exhausted she was, and had done so on multiple occasions.

Reclining back against the pillows, Kaoru tried to match his breathing to his companions'.

Breathe in for four. Hold for four. Breathe out for four. In for four… hold for four… out for four…. In…. Hold…. Out….

Soon enough, Kaoru felt the steady rhythm lulling him into sleep. He gave in to its embrace willingly…

~o0O0o~

…And awoke with a start a couple of hours later.

Julie was thrashing next to him, eyebrows furrowed, hands twitching, muttering unintelligibly. Kaoru focused all of his attention on the words, curious to know what she could be dreaming about that could affect her in this way, though he had a sneaking suspicion.

"No… come on… have to… come… please… go… later… please… no…. No! No, Thomas! Thomas! NO!"

She was crying in her sleep now, tears streaming down her face from behind her still-closed eyes, curled up tightly in a ball, sobs wracking her frame.

Kaoru decided that now was a good time to take action.

Gently, he touched her shoulder. When she didn't wake but simply continued to cry and mutter, he shook her gently, then with a little more force as she stubbornly remained asleep. He began to panic when her cries rose in itch and fervor. She almost sounded like she was physically in pain.

With a twinge of pain from his still-sore shoulder, Kaoru sat up and forced her body out flat on her back. Hovering over his roommate's prone frame, he shook her arm with the hand that wasn't propping him up off of the bed, and, when there was still no response, he began speaking to her in a somewhat frantic tone.

"Julie! Julie, wake up! It's only a dream, come on. Wake up! Please… Wake up!"

Kaoru had never felt so helpless before. She wouldn't wake up and she was hurting and there was nothing, absolutely nothing that he could do to save her from her own mind. He felt himself tearing up.

Until, quite suddenly, she jolted awake, nearly cracking their skulls together as she jolted into consciousness.

"Kaoru…? What are you doing?"

Her voice was hoarse from sleep and chocked from tears. Her eyes were blank and hollow.

The tears threatened to overwhelm him.

"I'm sorry…. You were crying and screaming and thrashing about, and I just didn't know what to do…. You wouldn't wake up, no matter what I did. I felt so helpless… I didn't know what to do and you just wouldn't wake up."

Kaoru closed his mouth, realising that he was rambling. Julie closed her eyes, took a deep, shuddering breath and slowly let it back out again.

"I hate this," she said quietly. She probably didn't mean f for him to hear, but he did. And it broke his heart.

Hesitantly he asked, "Do you want to talk about it? Maybe it'll help."

She grinned bitterly. "I doubt it, but sure. Let's give it a shot…"

She lay on her back, eyes focused on the ceiling. Kaoru propped himself up on his elbow beside her.

"I dreamt that I was back in the boarding school, leading Thomas by the hand. It was all happening again, the exact same as it had originally. We had almost made it; Thomas got shot. That's when it changed. I was holding Thomas while he was dying, except instead of just clutching my hand and telling me good-bye, he… blames me. Tells me it's all my fault. Then I was in a black space. Nothingness, emptiness, whatever you want to call it. There was a body lying in a single pool of light in what I assume was the centre of the space. Even though I didn't want to, I walked towards it. At first, it was Thomas, but then it changed…. Then it was Josh, and he was dying, reaching out towards me, but my legs refused to move. It changed again, and it wasn't Josh anymore but you, you Kaoru. And you were dying and there was nothing I could do to stop it!"

She began to cry again, hysterical sobs Kaoru was sure that she wouldn't have let out if she weren't half-asleep in the dark. She clung to his chest and cried, the dampness soaking through his shirt, and he still didn't know what to do or how to help her, so he did the only thing that came into his mind.

He kissed her.

He could feel her tears on his cheeks as he pressed his lips gently against hers. Her arms wound 'round his neck and she began to kiss him back, lips moulded together, bodies pressed flush against one another.

For a few moments, it was bliss. Then his brain caught up to him.

He was kissing Julie. He, Kaoru Hitachiin, was kissing his roommate and secret military operative, Julie Rutherford-Hopkins. Her hands were in his hair, his tongue was in her mouth, and they. Were. Kissing. Oh God. He pulled away from her mouth with a quiet smack.

Julie was lying underneath him (when did that happen?), cloths slightly askew, hair a mess, with the most gorgeous (wait, what?) pink blush on her cheeks.

"Oh God," Kaoru stammered because he knew, just knew she was going to be angry with him, "Julie I'm so sor-"

She pressed he finger against his lips, effectively cutting him off.

"Don't," she whispered, shaking her head, "just… don't." There was something in her eyes that Kaoru couldn't quite place, some deep and powerful emotion that he had never seen before. Before he could identify what it was, she had tugged him down next to her and cuddled up against his side, with her one leg wrapped around his and her head resting against his chest.

"Good night, Kaoru," she said as she closed her eyes once again, snuggling slightly closer to him.

Not knowing what else to do, Kaoru slung his arm around her, hand resting near her lower back and replied, "Good night Julie. Sleep well."

Se drifted off almost immediately, but even with the sound of her steady breathing next to him and her warmth pressed up against his side, Kaoru just couldn't relax. His mind kept replaying their kiss over and over in an endless loop, along with the unknown look in her dark eyes that had come afterwards. What had it meant? Why had he kissed her in the first place?

When he finally did drift off about an hour later, he was still no closer to figuring any of it out.

**End!**


End file.
